Here is the situation. I am a one man show at a 2A program. I am new to the district and the region. I am also the OAP director and sponsoring UIL Prose/Poetry. I have a group that got a 221 onstage and straight 1's in sight-reading doing 2 grade 2s.)
This group is small. However, I have good instrumentation .
6 flutes (Excellent to Good) 2 clarinets (Fair to ehh) 1 oboe (I didn't start him, he just moved here!) 2 alto (Excellent to fair) 1 Horn (Good) 4 Trumpets (Excellent to Very Good) 3 Trombones (Good to fair) 2 Tubas (Very Good) 6 Percussion (Very Good to Good)
Current Program: March for a Norwegian Penguin Qin Shi's Stone Army Storm Mountain Jubilee
We have sectionals as follows Mondays Trumpets
Tuesdays Alto/Horn
Wednesdays Clarinets
Thursdays Trombones
Friday Tubas
I do NOT have school on Fridays
My biggest concern is my clarinets. Most of the grade 2 and 3s have split clarinet parts AND/OR are a bit chaotic. I would love something that limits their exposure and focuses on my trumpets and flutes.
Basically, to make a too long story a little bit shorter, do I stay easy, be aggressive or somewhere in the middle.
*Note: If we had gotten a 1 at Marching contest, I would go for the easy win to get a sweepstakes. We got a 2 so I am not as worried about the rating. ( would like to get 1's but not as pressing)
I would offer up Plaza de Toros. The clarinets are not split, the kids usually love it. It's probably too easy for your percussion, but someone gets to play castanets! It's a grade 1, but you can hide meh clarinet. It sounds like you have great trumpets, they'll love being matadors. Low brass are basically unison, so you're not spreading them too thin. You can at least read it as a SR practice piece.
