This week I am planning our first recital of the school year, and I thought it would be helpful to write a how-to on recitals. I remember when I first started teaching, I had no idea what to do. If you are seasoned in this department, please chime in and help out the new music teachers.
First, you need to have enough students. 8 is a good minimum. If you don’t have that many, you could always team up with another teacher and host a joint recital. Some teachers are willing to host private recitals for one individual student, which is usually hosted in the student’s home. Personally, I don’t have time for this. I think it’s best to set a recital date at least 2-3 months in advance, and expect your students to plan to be there on that date. Do you require all of your students to perform? That is debatable. I would love to hear what other teachers say. Sometimes I think I should, but the truth is I don’t. I usually let a new student skip one or two recitals before I begin pushing. Skipping one recital is understandable if you are new, but after that, I think the kids need to learn about developing courage. I feel strongly that performing is part of the learning process and students need to perform. I imagine myself getting tougher and tougher on this as I gain more experience. What is your opinion?
SETTING
After you set a date, you need a place to host the performance. If you attend a church, that is the first place you should go. Usually they will let their members use the facility without charge. If you do not have a religious center, you may try community centers or piano stores (which usually have recital rooms). It is common to charge a recital fee to cover your time and expenses, so if your hosting place charges a fee, just factor this into your fee. But usually with enough imagination and push, you can find a free place. I host all of mine at a retirement home. Free entertainment for them and free facility for me. It’s a Win-Win. Book the room and confirm a week before the performance. Ask about chair set up and microphones. Some places will not have a PA so you need to find out about that, if you need amplification at all.
VIDEO
It can be really nice to offer a recording of the recital, but you have enough to worry about, so give the job to someone else. I have a relative who is very talented at filming and editing. I give her the responsibility and she keeps all of the profits. I don’t even worry about it. We offer a lower fee for pre-orders and at the recital, she is in charge of filling out the order forms and taking the orders. Again, I leave that job to her. Parents are happy and I don’t have to worry about a thing.
PROGRAMS
Make a simple program in Word. I use a template and I put a nice music-themed picture on the front. It doesn’t have to be crazy. Just something with the student’s name on it (and your contact information on the back 
. Have a student or a student’s sibling pass them out.
PERFORMANCE TIME
Have your students arrive 30 minutes early and have a waiting area for them. This is important. Some students are chronically late, and this will ensure that you start on time. And be sure to start on time! I have a zero tolerance policy for late comers. We start without them. That 30 minute window is plenty of time for arrival. Everybody wants to leave on time and that can only happen if everyone is punctual. Also, make sure to tell your students that they are required to stay for the whole performance. This should be expected, but you would be surprised…
Depending on how many students you have, they should perform 2-3 songs.
POST PERFORMANCE TREATS AND PHOTOS
Ask parents to bring a treat to share afterward. Make time for pictures with all the students. Right after the recital, have all the kids stand with you and let the parents snap photos. Share some treats and tell the kids how proud you are and listen to the parents praise your good work.
Good luck with your recital planning! It is sure to be of great reward for both your student’s progress and your business!
Usually I only have a recital in the Spring, it’s always a formal affair and everyone dresses up in their best and all.
This year I’ve added a Winter Recital. All 10 of my students celebrate Christmas, and I’d like it to be a more casual affair. Each student will be doing one Christmas song and one regular song.
Any suggestions from anyone on how to make this recital fun?
Hi Bella,
I teach beginning piano, guitar, and professional voice classes. I am have a few students that I want to be in a recital as a prelude to an artist competition.
Your article was just what I needed to think through some possibilities to help my students learn through their performance before an audience.
Thank you.
Willie Norwood, Vocal Coach
I’ve only been teaching for a few years but recitals were something I wanted to include from the start.
I always hold a Christmas night which is fairly informal, and up to now I’ve hosted this at my own home. This is going to be a bit more difficult this year as I have more students and not enough room to include all of them plus their parents. I hadn’t thought of retirement homes as a venue idea – so I’ll certainly be checking this out now!
Thanks for the ideas – great article!
Hello Bella,
Thank you very much for your article. I have a recital coming up in a few weeks. It was refreshing to know that I am on track with having a successful recital and it serves as a reminder of some things I need to take care of or delegate to someone else to ensure everything is in place.
I teach piano, drums and voice. I do require all of my beginners to play in the most recent recital coming up. My reasoning behind this is, about 35+ years ago, my piano teacher scheduled me to play in her Spring Recital and I had only had two or three lessons which were 30 minutes once a week. It challenged me to work hard and quickly in order to play with perfection “Swans on the Lake”, page 8 in the John Thompson’s Modern Course For The Piano First Grade Book. I didn’t have a piano to practice on. She asked me if my mother had a kitchen table, I answered yes, and she said there is your piano. It made me use my memory and imagination in addition to developing my tonal memory. So, I played for several months before my parents were able to purchase a piano. I was so excited to go to the local Mall with my mom just so I can spend hours in the piano shop playing and trying out all of the pianos while my mom shopped.
Although I do have a curriculum for my school, I teach private lessons and encourage each student as they excel at their own pace. Most of my students are middle school and younger. I use smily face stickers when they have completed an assignment and did well. This also gives them a sense of accomplishment.
I hope that this may be useful to someone.
Thanks again,
Jeffrey
@ Bethany Have a performing santa come of coarse. Have the kids dress as elves and all. Tons of things to do.
I personally am thinking about concerts and was thinking the complete opposite. I was thinking I would have the winter concert formal and the spring/ summer concert informal. Thinking about making it a tea party.
I teach violin, viola, and cello and I never have them go up alone we will always, unless requested, perform in groups of ability.
I average 8 to 12 students and I schedule a ‘Winter Formal’ where my students play at least 3 songs – preferably one memorized that is a more ‘serious, classical’ piece. I usually wait until January after the holidays are over so that the students have more time to learn their pieces and parent’s schedules are less hectic. This is followed by a nice reception serving a celebration cake and punch. Then, in the spring before school ends, I hold a Summer-themed recital. The students can wear fun, casual clothes and no pieces are memorized. Usually, I allow them to choose 2 of their favorite pieces. We end with fun snacks and soda. I always print a program for every recital because the parents and grandparents love to keep them as momentos.
Last fall, I had a “ragtime” recital. All students played some sort of ragtime piece or at least a piece with syncopation. Each student also read a fun fact about ragtime history and famous composers. That was very entertaining!
One spring, my local music store allowed me to hold my recital there for free. Afterward, I held a scavenger hunt in the sheet music department. Students had to look for clues around the music store and then they won ‘music money.’ It was a good time to help parents learn how to shop for music for the students on the appropriate level.
Since majority of my students are beginners and have never performed in front of people before I’m having 2 small recitals at my house on the same day, with 4 students in each recital. I’m having the rehearsal the week before at a retirement home where all the students can meet each other and play for a large audience.
Thanks for this article! I’ve taught a couple students at a time for a while, but this is my first year with a full studio, so I really needed these hints.
I teach guitar and vocals and have a number of students that like to play and sing. I too have a formal concert in the winter, usually January, and an informal student picnic in the summer. The formal concert I have at a banquet facility and the picnic is in my own back yard. Both events are well attended and I provide food. I use these events as part of the value added for my lessons when discussing programs and rates. Even though the one event is much more formal than the other I spend time at the end of both events allowing students to come together and teach one another songs they know. It turns into kind of an open mic which needs to be managed but I have had plenty of experience running open mics so it works pretty well and gets the students collaborating.
Great article Bella!!
Loved reading all of your comments and ideas. Even though it is a busy season, I have a formal holiday recital the first weekend in December. Surprisingly, none of my students miss it. We use a local church that lets us use their sanctuary for free, but I take donations and then give the money (usually $150) to the church with it designated for their music department. Each student performs a solo holiday piece plus a duet with another student/relative/me. Since we have printed programs (cover designed by a 13 yr. old student), we don’t need a microphone. Several times each year we also have a piano party held in my studio. Parents and guests are not invited to these informal parties. Students are welcome to perform or just watch. We play music games that I used for years in the elementary school music program. The piano parties are usually a theme-based party, and students bring snacks to share.
Thank you so much for all the comments! I hosted our last recital 2 weeks ago and it was really great! I love reading how all of you approach this part of the educational process. I am now convinced it is absolutely necessary for a music student to perform. I have informed my recital-phobic students that recitals are now mandatory! I think they are secretly glad I am making them do it
Thanks so much for these recital hints and tips. I recently signed up to teach for a local studio. I’ve been teaching for a year on my own without any recitals since I’m not a big studio. But I wanted my students to thrive and figured it was time to branch out and be more involved. The studio has regular recitals, and it will help me get over the fear of not being a good enough teacher even though I get many complements on my teaching style and abilities.
My biggest issue is figuring out how much to push a student and how much they are capable of learning. I teach guitar and everyone’s fingers are built differently; not to mention all students’ retention rate also varies. I like the “open mic” phrasing Kevin mentioned since this seems a little more laid back and easy for me to view the recital in this way so I won’t be so nervous both for me and my students.
I guess the best way to learn is to just jump in there and get involved; much like I had to do a year ago when I began teaching. I’m scared, sure, but I realize that growth and new experiences are an essential part of continued success. I have to have faith in my abilities as a teacher and my students as capable learners and thinkers.
Thanks again for this information. I realize that the studio I’m involved with will deal with most of these issues, but it’s nice to see all the comments and ideas that can apply to me as well.
I try to once yearly have a more informal recital at my home, which I call a Musical Celebration. We always have ice cream sundaes with the students bringing the topping.
The formal recital (spring)–I record student music throughout the year–when they are suitably polished. I then collect all the recorded music and play it as a ‘prelude’ while families and gathering for the recital.