2026 Jenny Clarinet March Madness Tournament – Solo de concours
Who will be crowned the ultimate clarinet solo de concours? Let’s find out in the Jenny Clarinet March Madness Solo de concours tournament!
Back by popular demand, the Jenny Clarinet March Madness-style clarinet tournament was created in 2019 as a fun and interactive way to discover new clarinet repertoire and revisit timeless favorites.
Here’s how it works:
I’ve modeled this tournament after the famous American March Madness basketball brackets. This is a fun way to pit clarinet works against each other in head-to-head matchups via Instagram stories.
I selected 32 works from the solo de concours repertoire from the Paris Conservatory, including both timeless classics and lesser-known works. Throughout this month, I’ll be sharing blog and social media posts for you to learn more about the history of the solo de concours and the Paris Conservatory.
Using an online randomizer, these 32 solo de concours were listed in a random order to create the “matches” for the first round lineup. Each day in March, I will post a poll on my Instagram stories for viewers to select their favorite work between the two daily choices. These votes can be based on anything – which piece you prefer, which you think is more important, or completely random. (Although I do encourage everyone to listen to pieces you don’t know well!) Each story poll will be open for 24 hours, and the solo de concours with the majority votes will advance to the next round of the tournament. This process repeats until March 31, when we crown the overall Solo de concours champion!
Complete your bracket by March 1!
If you want to join the fun before the tournament begins on March 1, fill out the blank bracket with your guesses as to which pieces will advance and which you think will be voted the overall clarinet solo de concours champion. I’ve filled out my bracket with my own predictions, and it will be interesting to see how closely my guesses are to the actual winners! (Fun fact: the odds of guessing a perfect bracket are 1 in 9.2 quintillion!) If you do manage to correctly predict the bracket, please send me a photo and I’ll send you a surprise!
The overall winner will become the unofficial 2026 clarinet solo de concours champion and will have bragging rights until next year’s Jenny Clarinet March Madness competition!
I’ve previously done these March Madness tournaments in 2025 with clarinet sonatas, 2020 with clarinet concerti, and in 2019 with orchestral excerpts.
Which Solo de concours do you think has what it takes to claim the 2026 crown? Cast your predictions and let the battle begin!