Recitals Discussion

[pianoslav]

Hi guys,
I'm curious about the way you go about recitals and why. First, how often do you hold recitals for your students? What venue do you use? Do you charge your students to participate in recitals? Are your recitals a formal or casual event? And finally, what is your ideal number of students to participate per recital (or how long do you usually have your recitals go), and why?

I'm considering to reform my approach to recitals and I want to know what other think.

[superman1980]

Hi guys,
I'm curious about the way you go about recitals and why. First, how often do you hold recitals for your students? What venue do you use? Do you charge your students to participate in recitals? Are your recitals a formal or casual event? And finally, what is your ideal number of students to participate per recital (or how long do you usually have your recitals go), and why?

I'm considering to reform my approach to recitals and I want to know what other think.

Hello,
I'm not sure if I'm "allowed" to answer but here is what my teacher does:
She does the recital annually in June, and later on, they she did them twice a year: one Christmas concert and a Year-End/Graduation one.
She usually rents out a church for a few hours but once she did them in her small house.
No, she did not charge her students but I'm not sure if she does now. However, she usually tells everyone to bring either a donation for charity, flowers for students, or refreshments for everyone at the end of the concert (cookies, cake, juiceboxes).
There wasn't any specific dress code, but everyone would dress semi-formally (what you would wear to a piano festival, dress for girls, dress shirt/black pants for guys). But there would always be one or two people who showed up in t-shirt and jeans though she did not mind too much.
Usually, around 20 (or more when she "shares" a recital with one of her friends who are piano teachers, so like a "joint" recital). They went for around 1.5-2 hours and intermission but those who needed to could leave at the intermission if they were in a rush. Why? I'm not sure but I assume it is because students would get bored and the rent for the venue would be too expensive. Which is also why she decided to have two recitals of slightly shorter length. So, for example, students who were ready or had Christmas-themed pieces could perform at the Winter concert while others who were either graduating, had made a lot of progress, or were not ready for the December concert could play in the June concert.

Anyway, hope this helps.
--superman1980--

[pianoslav]

She usually rents out a church

So if she rents out a church, it makes sense for her to charge each participant to cover for the cost of recital.

They went for around 1.5-2 hours.

This seems very long. I know several teachers who try to keep their recital length to be under an hour, so they do several recitals. But then again, it's easier to insert all of your students into the same recital and get it over with. This also goes back to the issue with the venue, because you won't be able to fit all of your students (and their families) into the room if you do a home recital, so if you were to do several recitals, you could do all of it at home. I don't know which is better. Doing several recitals is more work for the teacher, but more comfortable for the students, while doing one recital is easier on the teacher, but more tedious for the audience, who are only there to listen to their relative to begin with.

[pianoman1349]

My teacher never charged for  the year-end recital is a year-end celebration that the teacher hosts at their own cost to celebrate the learning and acheivements of the students.

Because the recital was held in the  school recital hall, the cost of the venue was not a problem (free).  However, she hosted a catered reception for all students/audience members, as a token of appreciation for all of the hard work and dedication put in.

Because she had so many students, she split them up into two recitals.  The junior/intermediate level students played in an earlier 1.5 recital (with a reception afterwards), and the senior/advanced students played in a formal 2 hour evening recital.  There are no intermissions.

I know of a teacher who hired an orchestra for her recital, so that all of her students learning a concerto could experience performing with an orchestra.  In that case, the parents all paid a fee to cover the cost of the orchestra and hall, in addition to selling tickets.