Circuit Breaker is intended to expose young players to 5/4 Time (or 10/8 if you’re a theory purist, but why die on THAT hill?) and Cut Time. In consideration of this, the ranges have been kept extremely modest and in the lower registers of the instruments, and careful attention was paid to rhythmic repetition to make sure that the students could be successful without being overwhelmed. Doing all of this and creating an aesthetically interesting work was no small task and in this, I hope I have succeeded. The work also contains the option to be performed with “fixed media” or a “backing track.” While this is not required for a successful performance, it will definitely add to the overall experience and help expose students to a developing and evolving aspect of the wind band repertoire. Plus…it’s just fun!