WSMA Solo Ensemble is an annual opportunity for students from middle/high school to showcase their musical talent in front of a judge and get scored, whether they’re from band, orchestra, or choir. Musicians had a choice of either playing a solo composition or with an ensemble of musicians, hence where the name “Solo Ensemble” came from. On the 12th of March, Solo Ensemble was hosted by BCHS itself; very convenient for Central’s student musicians.

Musicians are scored on a scale of 1-10 in five categories, where 1 is the best score and 10 is the worst. Each of the categories represents a musical skill, those being accuracy, technique, position, style, and expression. The sum of every category score will then fall into another range of scores from 1-5. Those who had a final score of 1* (At most 3 points taken off out of all five categories) move on to state at UWM. This year, Solo Ensemble had 49 unique events with BCHS students qualifying for state.

This year, Solo Ensemble saw a total of 653 different performances running almost continuously from 8 am-4 pm. To help keep such a large event running smoothly, Key Club and NHS had numerous generous volunteers helping run the event. Whether it be door monitors, working the judge’s lounge, or delivering score sheets, Solo Ensemble could not have been such a success without them.

My experiences from Solo Ensemble have almost all been positive in my three years of participating. Some of the music I’ve played has been challenging to master, making me practice outside my comfort zone and ultimately improve a lot as a musician, arguably more so than simply relying on every-other-day band/orchestra/choir rehearsals for musical development. Even if you’re just a beginner, Solo Ensemble offers a wide spectrum of piece difficulties, so you can show the judge what you have accomplished in the last three months to the best of your ability, whether you just started a new instrument or have been playing for over a decade.

Overall, Solo Ensemble is a very fun experience to be able to perform amazing music, especially if you’re performing with a group of friends, not to mention the opportunities to perform challenging repertoire. I highly encourage everyone with any kind of musical ability to participate in Solo Ensemble next year.