Monday, January 31, 2022
A few years back I was noticing that after our concerts there were always a number of programs either left on the table by the entrance to our performance venue (the gym), or on the bleachers and the floor. I spoke with a colleague from a neighboring school district about this situation and he shared with me that he had started using Adobe Spark for his programs. I looked into the program (it's free, by the way) and started creating digital programs for all of the concerts at our middle school. Within the past year, Adobe Spark has now switched to Adobe Creative Cloud Express. Your school district might already have an account with them which would allow you to keep everything on the school/work side instead of having to create a personal account.
This is a big time-saver since you do not have to print your programs (or have them printed.) Also, you don't have to guess how many to print, so you will never run out or have extras to pick up after the concert. Another benefit, especially today, is that people who are viewing a live stream of the performance can see the program as well. I include a link to the program in an e-mail to the parents the afternoon of our performance, as well as creating a QR code for anyone to scan on their way into the concert. If you are concerned about the student names being in the program for the general public, it is easy to duplicate the program and have a second version available without the students' names listed.
For those parents that wish to have a physical program to keep, there is an option to export the program as a PDF, which you can email to anyone who requests it. Parents can then print it out themselves for a keepsake.
I am sure there are some music programs that have advertisements printed in their concert programs from sponsors that earn money for their programs. There is also an option within this online software that will allow you to insert a button which can link to those businesses/sponsors' websites.
If you have any questions, please feel free to reach out via email: [email protected].
| Originally from East Alton, Illinois, Dennis Carter Earned his Associates of Fine Arts in Music Education from Lewis and Clark Community College in 1990 and his Bachelor of Music in Music Education from Millikin University, Decatur, IL in 1993. Dennis began his teaching career in the Mt. Pulaski School District in the fall of 1993 teaching General Music, Band, and Chorus for two years. In 1995 he was hired by the Triad Community Unit School District as their Middle School Band Director. During the course of his 25 years at Triad, he has taught Middle School Band, assisted with the High School Band, directed the summer parade bands at both Middle and High School levels, and taught 5th and 6th grade General Music Classes. Dennis is a member of the National Association for Music Education and the Madison County Band Director Association since September of 1995, serving as President and Vice-President. Mr. Carter is completing his 29th year of education and thoroughly enjoys teaching students and directing bands. |
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