Monday, March 18, 2024
Many times when our groups traveled, we stressed that "We are on someone else's schedule" and that we needed to be very diligent about the report times and the schedule. This was especially true when participating in music festival. And, if we truly adhere to this idea, we will avoid creating an environment that is not conducive for our students' best performance. We will rush them to perform without proper adjustment time. We will just go with the set up that the host crew put together that many not even resemble your band set up. Or, let our students stand by themselves waiting on a judge only to increase their already skyrocketed nerves. These are just a few reasons our students will not perform to the best of their ability. So here are a few tips or suggestions to help your students have the best performance opportunity possible.
Let's start with solo and ensemble performances. Over the past few years as a director or an adjudicator, I've noticed some practices that don't create a good environment for soloist or ensemble performers. Students will come into a performance room with their accompanist or fellow ensemble members, setup quickly, maybe not even tune, and stand quietly waiting for the judge to finish up from the previous performance. All this process does is make the performer stand around increasing their nerves which creates a very tough performance environment. Here is a process I have used to help create a more positive atmosphere for performances. When you first walk into the performance room, take the time to set it up to your liking. Unless the piano needs to be plugged in, move it where it best works for your student, even if you need to change sides of the room or angle of the piano so the accompanist can communicate with your soloist. Set up your ensembles just like they have rehearsed unless space won't allow, then modify it to come as close to their normal set up as possible. Next, take time to have your performers play a couple long tones or chords, for your ensembles, to get accustomed to the acoustics of the room. They could also play their first couple of notes, or a tricky entrance or interval to aid with this. Take the time to tune with the piano or the others and hopefully by this time, the judge will be finished with his previous critique. If not, talk through a couple spots in the music or visit with them about something to keep the nerves to a minimum. (Even a "Dad" joke or two could be appropriate here to keep things light!) Once the judge is ready, remind them to announce themselves and their selection, wish them luck and then step away. Though it is still up to the performer to "come through in the clutch," this process will help create a positive environment for the performer.
On to Large Ensembles, again, I've have witnessed performance practices by band directors that have put their ensembles "behind the 8-ball" for a successful performance. They will do things like not adjust the percussion section to match how they set up in their band room. They will not make any adjustments to the set up and just go with the set up as the host crew creates. They will not play anything in the performance area to get a sense of the acoustics or allow the students to get comfortable with the area. Or, the director will just stand in silence waiting for the adjudicators to be ready. Again, these practices do not aid in creating a positive environment for the group. To help create a positive experience, here are a couple of suggestions. Once the setup crew has finished, take time to make sure your set up is exactly how you want it. Don't be afraid to offend the setup crew, this is your performance. Put the chairs and stands exactly how they are set up in your band room or your local performance area. Move the percussion around, again to match the set up from home. Once you have your set up correct and your band on stage, take time to play something in your performance area. Use part of a warm-up scale or even use part of a chorale. This will help you understand what the sound of the room is like and allows the members of the group to get an understanding of what they hear from their viewpoint. If you are comfortable with tuning in front of your judges, go ahead and do that. I was never comfortable with that, so I skipped that. (I didn't want the judges to know how bad my ears were!). Now, if you need to wait on your adjudicators to be ready, spend some time talking through a spot or two in the music for them to concentrate on or other logistics you might want to discuss. This will help to keep your ensemble focused on the task at hand yet help calm their nerves. Once the judges are ready, announce yourself and selections and off you go with a great atmosphere for the students to do their best!
"We are on someone else's schedule" was the way this article started. And yes, you are!! And, yes, there will be things that will go wrong to complicate matters. So, make sure you know the parameters of your festival. But, within those parameters, make sure you take ALL the time you need to put your students in the best performance environment possible, so they have the best chance for success! Best of luck as we enter this exciting time of the year!
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