Concert Preparation Tips
Concert Preparation Tips
September 6, 2019
Summer has ended and the brand-new school year has started. Music educators will need to begin preparing for their Fall and Christmas concerts. There’s a lot that goes into having a successful event and if you aren’t prepared, it’ll be evident in the final performance. This post will dig into what you need to do ahead of time to make sure your concerts go well.
Communication
Everything starts with communication. This includes both parents and students. They need to know all of the details surrounding the event from the day and time to what uniform they need to wear and anything else that pertains to the performance. If anything, overcommunication is better than not communicating enough.
You can communicate in a variety of ways. Some of the most effective ones are texting, Facebook groups, and printing schedules to give out. These are best because they’re documented and written down. It will also benefit you to follow up with the students to make sure that they did in fact give the flyer to their parents or family members that would like to attend. Make sure you’re also going over everything with your students during class and using these other methods to supplement it. These other methods are best for communicating with parents which is important because parents are your students’ rides for the concert or for any rehearsals outside of normal class time.
Logistics
Knowing what you need and when you need it is obviously important. Logistics is getting all of your equipment ready for rehearsals and for the concert. This can include everything from sheet music to staging and risers.
For larger things like portable staging and risers, planning well in advance will produce the best outcome. You need to have time to transport it from the practice room to the performance area and make sure it’s set-up properly and ready to go. This task takes more time if you’re transporting it to a different building entirely and the way you move it would depend on the type of riser or staging it is. Ideally, you would have planned for this when making the purchase to get the system that’s most efficient for your space.
Check your inventory a couple of months ahead of time to make sure you have everything you need. If you need additional units or if something needs repaired, this will give you enough time to take care of it.
Rehearsal
Rehearsing is vital. The two points above actually apply to both rehearsals and the actual performance. Your rehearsals won’t go as smoothly unless you’ve been in communication with students and parents about them and you make sure your equipment is in the practice location and ready to go. It is also good to have practice in the actual performance space if possible to prepare your students for performing in a new space and introduce the idea that they will have an audience during the actual event.
Additionally, you can make sure that performers know the expectation for your rehearsal time so that they can be prepared ahead of time. This will make for a more efficient rehearsal overall.
Conclusion
This school year, take the time to thoroughly prepare for your concerts when it comes to the things above. It’ll help your program to be more successful and your students to become better musicians. A little preparation will also reduce the amount of stress that is associated with the actual performance and make it more enjoyable for everyone involved.
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