Mr. Wolf’s Happy Guide to Solo and Ensemble

Congratulations on choosing to participate in MSBOA Solo and Ensemble Festival. Here are a few helpful hints to give you the best possible chance for success.

  1. Make sure you have a piece of music!
  2. Your performance should be at least 3 Minutes in length 4 minutes for chamber group. This does not sound like much but when you are playing a fast duet or an entry-level solo it is possible to speed up or not play enough. Make sure you time your work at tempo well in advance of your performance.
  3. If you are performing a solo or an ensemble work, make sure that you have a piano accompanist if necessary. Almost all solos have a piano accompaniment and some chamber pieces do as well. If a piano part exists, it must be performed with you!
  4. You must have an original part for the judge! NO PHOTO COPIES!!! Because of copyrights the MSBOA insists that no photocopies be used. You may play off your own photocopy but the judge needs the original or a hand written part.
  5. Some duets or chamber works do not have a score with all parts. If you are playing a duet or trio without a full score, do your best to find one. Sometimes they do not exist. In this case you must write out the parts on a score. This must be as clean and neat as possible. DO NOT PHOTO COPY YOUR PART AND TAPE THE PARTS TOGETHER. The judges will not give you a grade without the score. This is a very time consuming project that you should do as soon as you receive your music.
  6. Make sure you number your parts so the judge can give you comments on your performance.
  7. Prepare to fail if you fail to prepare!
  8. Set up regular practice sessions with your accompanist or partners in your ensemble. Because we are a commuter school this can be very difficult. Exchange phone numbers and email and sit down with your planners to determine a regular practice schedule together. Make sure your accompanist knows where and when you are performing!
  9. Always enter an accompanying session with your own ideas. You should not wait for your accompanist to teach you the music. Know your tempos, bowings, dynamics and direction the music should go in your mind. Make sure you record the session and go back and listen to what happened. This will make the next session even better.
  10. Ensembles have a very difficult time succeeding because they do not practice independently before they meet. As an ensemble member make sure you practice your music before you meet as a team! If you know your part there is less chance for “weird” stuff to happen in the rehearsal. “Weird Stuff” can bog down a rehearsal and waste time; make sure you know your part as well as your partner’s part. You should also record the session to go back and reflect.
  11. Play from the score. All members of the team should have a copy of the big score. This way you can play your part and watch the other parts as you practice. This will help you identify and fix “weird stuff” as you hear it in the rehearsal.
  1. Performance Day (Have Fun!)
  2. Go to the correct school early! Find your warm-up room and check in with the room chair. This year we are performing at Hartland HS on Feb. 1. Many times this festival is on multiple sites so make sure you, your partners and your accompanist know how to get there!
  3. BE FLEXIABLE! No matter how efficient the master list looks with each event scheduled for a precise time, the day always runs behind. If you are scheduled for 8:00AM you will be on time, but if you are scheduled for 10:15AM you should expect to be delayed. If you have an accompanist realize that person is likely playing for at least a handful of other students in multiple rooms. You will be delayed in most cases.
  4. The time on the master schedule is your performance time and even though I just stated that the day never runs on time, you should not cause the problem. Try to get to the warm-up room thirty minutes before your scheduled time. Sometimes they will ask if you would like to go early, you may if you choose but you are not required to perform before your scheduled time. If your accompanist shows up early, you absolutely should tell the room chair and they will work you in to perform as soon as possible.
  5. Run through your music a few times in the warm-up room and realize that there will be a lot of people doing the same thing. Be curious to the other members in your room.
  6. When you enter into your performance your parents or any guests are allowed into the room and they are allowed to applaud when you finish! The judge will want to see you and hear you. The judge is usually a specialist on your instrument and more importantly, they are usually a teacher. Their goal is to help you improve your playing. At the end of your performance they will give you comments and suggestions and may even ask you to play some passages again. The goal is to help you not punish you!
  7. At the end of your performance you will return to the warm-up room and pack up your instrument then return to the hall outside of the performance room. When the judge is finished writing your comments down, the room chair will return your music and present you with your score. The score is between 5 (Really Bad) and 1 (Outstanding) and will be posted on the master list beside the performance room door.
  8. If you receive a score of 1 or 2 you will be able to get a medal for your achievement. The room chair will give you and your ensemble a slip of paper that you will take to the Medal Table in the Cafeteria to redeem your award.
  9. Last Step
  10. Mr. LaNoue or Mr. Wolf will get your official sheets and return them to you the next school day. However, you should find either of us and tell us how you did! We want to know too!!!
  11. If you receive a Division 1 rating you are eligible to perform at the State level of Solo and Ensemble. This is a big accomplishment and very rewarding for a young musician. IF YOU RECEIVE A FIRST DIVISION RATING AND YOU WANT TO PERFORM AT THE STATE LEVEL YOU MUST TELL EITHER MR. ASH OR MR. WOLF THAT DAY. THIS YEAR STATE SOLO AND ENSEMBLE IS ON MARCH 22.
  12. Go out for lunch or go for ice cream! You have worked hard and whatever your score is you have gone through a very stressful day.

Have fun and good luck!!

Hartland High School

10635 Dunham Road, Hartland, MI

(810) 626-2200