On May 9, the JP Stevens Band program held their annual spring small ensemble festival. This event provided an excellent opportunity for the students to get together and perform music that was picked and coordinated of their own accord. The small ensemble challenged the students as musicians by testing their ability to balance and blend within a small group without the assistance of a director. 

The freshman band, symphonic band, and the wind ensemble participated in this event. The small ensembles consisted of different groups with varying sizes and instrument groups as well. These groups ranged from a two person group, known as a duet, all the way up to a six person ensemble, called a sextet. The ensembles typically contained the same instruments or instruments from the same family such as the brass, woodwinds, or percussion. The six ensembles that were deemed the best by the band directors would be able to perform in the annual spring band concert.

At 6:30 PM, students and parents alike filtered into the band room, where the performances would ensue. The performers wore formal or coordinated outfits that matched the style of their ensemble piece. Since the small ensembles were going to be performing one after another, as one small ensemble performed there were always two or three small ensembles warming up in the practice rooms. Each small ensemble was allotted ten minutes to warm up along with a time slot for their performance. As each piece varied in length, the time slots weren’t set to a certain time; however, the ensembles were able to flow easily as once one group finished another entered in to perform their piece. 

The festival kicked off with two percussion ensembles, one from the freshman band, who played the piece “Doxy” by Sonny Rollins, and one from the symphonic band, who played the mysterious “Exit 39” by David Mancini. Following this came the wind ensemble trombone duet who performed “Allegretto” by Henning and then the clarinet duet who played “Little Fugue in C Minor” by Bach. The saxophone quartet performed “Finale from Quartet” by F. J. Hadyn and the tuba duo played “Duet” by Karl Stamitz. The saxophone quintet then performed “Sinfonia No. 3” by Bach followed by the clarinet choir, including almost all the clarinets throughout all three bands, who performed the elegant “Pavane por un Infante Defunte” by Maurice Ravel. Subsequent to this was the french horn trio who played “Tchaikovsky Horn Solo,” the senior percussion quartet who performed “Pokemon Medley” by Junichi Masada, and the woodwind quintet who played “Outset and Windfall Island” by Kenta Nagata. The performances culminated with the clarinet quintet who performed the popular, upbeat tune “Don’t Stop Me Now” by the famous Freddie Mercury. 

“It was great to hear my peers come together in small groups and show their creativity in short pieces of music,” said sophomore flutist Devansh Shah, “The festival was the perfect way to express the music we enjoy playing and share it with others.”

The students had exceptional performances and they were able to truly showcase their talents as musicians outside of a large-scale band. Overall, the festival was ultimately a success as the students enjoyed their time both listening to ensembles and performing in one as well.