Timeline

Timeline for Recitals

In Advance:

Have a director to oversee operations

Recruit helpers for publicity, recording, programs, greeters, stage crew, etc.=

Listen to many musicians, go to performances, and talk with people to find out who wants to perform

Encourage musicians to form ensembles

Finalize location for recitals

Set dates and themes

Flyer to musicians who might participate, set date of commitment at least a month before recitals begin

&= nbsp; (to be safe have them sign a statement that you may rec= ord and broadcast their performance)

Articles to local papers and radios encouraging musician= s to contact the recital director and to &= nbsp; particip= ate. Be sure to put the themes in the a= rticle because that gets people thinking.

Collect bios and photos as well as pieces and composers

You now probably have 10% the response you’d hoped for. Do not despair.<= /p>

&= nbsp; Call the people you really want and make them feel special.

&= nbsp; Musicians often need a bit of nurturing to feel confident enough to share in a public= &= nbsp; &= nbsp; performance.

Set recitals pieces

Start publicity (the rule of thumb is your patron needs to see advance publicity THREE times bef= ore it &= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; registers and they will show up. Word of mouth is the best publicity.)

&= nbsp; Newspaper articles

&= nbsp; Flyers

&= nbsp; Posters

&= nbsp; Radio Public Service Announcements

&= nbsp; Electronic Bulletin Boards

&= nbsp; Mail postcards (print season summary on cardstock and you can get four to a page= )

Type up programs and print less then you think you’ll need at the beginning and increase as word gets around

&= nbsp; We start with 80 and work up to 250 for 6 recitals

&= nbsp; When you have choirs you’ll need more programs than when you have individu= al soloists

Arrange for the musicians to rehearse in the location

&= nbsp; We open up an hour in advance for set up and warm up

Recital Day

Have someone to greet and give programs

If you need funds to cover costs, take a suggested donation, but don’t t= urn anyone away

If someone really messes up then don’t put that on a podcast, but encour= age them to try again with &n= bsp; another piece.

On the last recital we serve cookies and sometimes have some fruit and punch so people will visit

Remember= our goal is to build a musical community and get people out talking to each oth= er and having some joy in their lives through music.

&= nbsp;

Copyright Considerations

We pay our ASCAP fees as an orchestra. The BMI fee is included in our American Symphony League membership. <= o:p>

If in doubt, do not broadcast a piece. If any performer, composer, or publisher objects to a performance th= en take that piece off the podcast immediately.

Since we do our recitals as a public service and the musicians volunteer their ti= me we haven’t had any problems, but union musicians may be prohibited fr= om participating in your series so you have to be understanding of their posit= ion. Those of us who have other income = have the luxury of playing for the love of the music. They could jeopardize their positi= ons by playing for free.

Below is an article from the American Symphony League about international copyrig= ht issues:

Diffi= culties of enforcing international copyrights online

Amazi= ng Things That Have Really Happened One of the soloists showed up after her performance was set in= the recital and brought her two small children. Because they were frazzled the lit= tlest girl insisted by being near her mother.&nb= sp; The soloist put a chair near her stand and the child (about age 2) s= at on the chair during the performance and was as good as gold. Ken just rearranged the pieces to = put the solo in its proper place for the podcast.

We did a recital of 50s music and had an Elvis impersonator co= me from behind the audience. I h= ad to proclaim, “Ladies and Gentlemen, Elvis is in the house”. He had the Vegas Elvis outfit with= the white rhinestone suit and black wig. We all laughed pretty hard.

People usually show up to perform, but every once in a while t= hey will have a last minute conflict and forget to notify you so you smile and proceed.

A soloist had made a big deal about the exact piece to be performed and that night changed to a different piece.

It was so cold in one of the halls that we had to use a space heater for the violin soloist who was doing the complete Vivaldi Seasons so= he could perform. The rest of us= were in many layers.

A bat in this same old building came out during a soprano solo. It was swooping around = the hall and Carol Ann Modesitt was not about to be upstaged by a bat so she ju= st amped up the performance and was truly amazing. After she finished singing, one of= the audience members took a coat and covered the bat when it landed and took it outside. That building has si= nce been torn down and we now have a cozy bat free zone for performances.<= /o:p>

Main Message: Be flexible and have fun!