The Final Frontier

Space travel is one of the most daring and inspiring accomplishments of humankind. It shows not only perseverance but also how truly intelligent we can be. “The Final Frontier” is an epic journey about pushing past what we’ve already accomplished and soaring to the next destination on our cosmic journey… Mars.

*Pre Show – There is a short soundscape with a countdown before the journey begins… The audience will be drawn in and prepare to be amazed before the ‘official’ beginning of our show which starts at the first impact!

Movement 1

Without any time to spare, the band opens with a grand hit that symbolizes lifting off as we begin the first steps to leave Earth. Quickly after, the mallets and a clarinet soloist inspire the feelings of floating freely from Earth’s  as we make our way through Earth’s atmosphere. As the winds melodically layer on top of one another we lead into a large hit and over the ensemble we hear the classic “That’s one small step for man” audio clip. Without dropping the energy for a second after this hit we feature the woodwinds technical prowess and showcase the percussionists. All of this leads into one last impact with enough energy to send us out of Earth’s atmosphere.

Movement 2

The mallets inspire an ethereal feeling of floating through space as we begin to orbit the Earth and take in the beauty of the stars and Earth around us. A beautiful clarinet solo leads into a perfect spot to showcase your students’ lyrical playing. The use of dynamic contrast and hairpin dynamics create a feeling of vast awe as we lead into a full ensemble moment that is guaranteed to echo through every stadium.

Movement 3

As the beauty fades a flute solo calls through the ensemble supported by a percussion feature that soon begins to foreshadow with the ensemble that there is peril on the horizon. We soon realize before we reach our Final Frontier we must pass the dangers of an asteroid belt. Your students’ timing and technical prowess is shown through a menacing 7/4 section that features your brass and woodwinds intensely tossing the melody all over the ensemble. The percussionists finally have their time to shine as we pass through asteroids left and right… A majestic and lyrical trumpet solo signifies we’ve made it past the dangers of asteroids, and the iconic 5/4 rhythm of Gustav Holst’s “Mars” will shake the stadium as we come to a close. A grand final hit shows that we’ve made it safely to landing on the surface of Mars, and the full ensemble moment is guaranteed to leave audiences cheering and judges amazed as we make it to our Final Frontier.