This year, my band director has decided that we will perform all four movements of Persichetti's "Symphony for Band" and Patrick Conway's march, "The Observing Visitor". It's a wonderful program and fits our band very well, and the symphony has a beautiful euphonium solo in the second movement I get to play. For those that aren't familiar with the Symphony, it is written in "choirs". The idea was that instead of writing melodic material in some sections and harmonic material and backing material in others, the upper woodwinds would be playing one melody while the trombones, tuba, and timpani would be playing another, while the euphoniums and bass clarinets would have their own melodic line of the same importance as the other melodies. My band director is experimenting with exploiting this "choir" system and has put in a seating arrangement I've never heard of. The band is split down the middle between brass and woodwinds, with the more "brassy" of the brass instruments (trombones and trumpets) being further from the woodwinds than the more mellow brasses (euphonium, french horn). The woodwinds have a similar set up in that the flutes and clarinets (more "woodwindy" I guess) are further from the center while the saxes are closer to the brass as they act as a "link" in some parts of the piece between brass and woodwinds. The middle-rear of the band is the mellow lower voices, consisting of the euphoniums, the bass clarinets, the tuba, and the lower trombone parts. The part that strikes people who have seen it is the presence of french horns on the very front row sitting shoulder-to-shoulder with some flute players. I sit in the middle of the band and can't directly hear the balance, but hear the difference between both sides.
My question to you all is do you think this is a good idea, or is my band director just a tad bit crazy? We have a guest conductor coming soon and he's going to give his opinion on the seating arrangement, but I would also like to hear from other experienced musicians who have performed in more ensembles than I have and might have seen things of this nature.