Solo and Ensemble is sponsored by the Missouri State High School Activities Association (MSHAA).  Students preform by themselves or with a small group on prepared music they chose from a list of hundreds of approved pieces.

This year, Lafayette has sponsored over 120 students to perform. 55 students from the Orchestra program, 40 events from the Band program, and 20 events from Choir are preforming March 4, 2017.

“There are 1900 total performances from the Saint Louis area. This year’s contest will be happening at Parkway Central High School, spanning two days to accommodate all the students performing,” Joe Gutowski, Orchestra Director said.

Other than providing students with a great learning experience, Solo and Ensemble provides students with the opportunity to be a better musician.

“Anytime you can be an independent musician instead of relying on people beside you is a valuable experience. When you do a performance outside of class, that’s a reflection of your own preparation which you show to others to see how far you’ve come. Especially in music, your amount of preparation reflects on those playing with you. Especially when one is playing with a small group, if one person messes up, the whole group fails,” Gutowski said.

If students achieve the highest rating of one at the District Solo and Ensemble festival, they are sent to the State Solo and Ensemble Festival, which is in late April.

“State Solo and Ensemble is slowly changing from being a more rigorous standard of what we do at the District level into a more Olympic style of competition. Instead of receiving number ratings, students are awarded with gold, silver or bronze medal for their performance. Judges look for more musicality than they do at Districts, which is why State is more competitive,” Gutowski said.

State usually happens over the course of three days, and it usually happens at the University of Missouri Columbia. Due to Lafayette covering the entrance fees for all participants, the students only need to pay if they have a pianist accompaniment or if they drop out of Solo and Ensemble.