By Jan Gippo Flute Talk Magazine, February 2011
Summarized from the article –
Before 1985 there were only four piccolo concertos that were widely known: the three Vivaldi concerti and one by Will Gay Bottje. That means that piccolo players never developed the art of concerto playing.
For a concerto your sound should be bigger and louder, than when you play in a band or orchestra, but not shrill.
Note that piccolo fingerings are not the same as those for the flute. The acoustics are very different, so it is unreasonable to think that flute fingerings will work on piccolo. Find out which fingerings are different and why and your quest for good intonation will be much easier.
Playing the piccolo is harder work than playing flute. You must always control the air column to avoid overblown notes, especially in the upper octave. Learn to use only enough air to get the sound. As on flute, the sound should be even throughout the three octaves.
Playing a concerto is hard work. The movements are usually longer than a solo passage that you have played in an ensemble. Condition yourself so you can play the entire piece at your best level. Before performing a piece, play it through two or three times a day one right after another, just for stamina. Play with full voice at least one hour before the performance to make the muscles ready. Then you can start with a full sound.
Piccolo Fingerings
Jan Gippo did not include a piccolo fingering chart reference with this article, but he had submitted one to Flute Talk magazine for their 1995 July/August issue. Here is the link to an image of that article:
Here are links to some other Piccolo fingering charts:
Alternate Fingering Chart for Piccolo – First Octave