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Hello teachers!
I'm a fairly new piano teacher, and this winter will be my first time giving a recital during the holidays. I live in a very religious community and all my students are from Christian-based faiths.
I was wondering if anyone had any suggestions as to putting together my winter recital. I want some Christmas music, but don't think it shoud be exclusively Christmas, since that is not what my students have worked hard on all year long.
So do I have all holiday music at the end? Or mix it in? Or have only some students play holiday, but not all?
Any suggestions?

Hi Corinne,

Welcome on board. I understand that St George is a most beautiful part Utah and the west. How fortunate for you!

Am I assuming correctly that you are talking about a studio recital for your students? And that it would be prior to Christmas?

For years, I held one in mid-December with reception following. Always successful. I started the students on Christmas music, mostly carols, in early November, so that they could play two pieces for their parents. If they didn't have two carols down, I let them play something from their regular studies.

Learning carols is hugely motivational. With decorations up and holiday music in the air, the students just naturally want to be part of it. I found the two month diversion resulted in the students doing a lot of playing and practicing, which moved them along quickly.

What about your local music teachers' association - do they sponsor a recital for students during the holiday run up? Our group does a Harvest Festival at the end of October. About 15 teachers are participating, or rather, their students. Yours truly is the chairman this year, so I've got my work cut out for me in the coming weeks.

John

PS One of the great things about being a private teacher is that you don't have to be politically correct. Call a spade a spade, or in this case, a Christmas recital. That is, in fact, what the celebration is all about.

I've had many many parents tell me that one of the highlights of having their kids enrolled in piano is when they reach the level where they can play Christmas music. I have a Christmas recital and an end of the year recital (June). Since I am my own business person (and not a public school) I don't have to adhere to the PC c**p that has invaded almost every part of our lives in the last 20 years. Although not everyone will play Christmas music (do you really want to hear Jingle Bells 10x in one recital?), I still call it a Christmas recital since it's scheduled in December. I have a few Jewish students who enjoy playing Hannakuh songs. I did have a Jewish parent one year who complained about her child participating in a 'Christmas' recital; I politely informed her that most parents love this recital and that she could certainly opt not to participate. She's been fine ever since.

I've also had students participate in a recital that our MTNA group has each year at a local shopping mall. The mall arranges for a local music store to bring a nice digital piano; they set up chairs and we teachers are each granted a block of time for our students. It's non-stop Christmas music all day and SO much fun for the kids and their families.

That's a neat idea!

I'm not doing a "formal" recital for December, but we are having a Piano Party....a potluck party and the students will play their Christmas music (not memorized) while family members and friends mill around, eat, and listen.

My students have two opportunities to perform in December: an informal coffeehouse on a Saturday afternoon, and a formal recital on a Sunday afternoon (usually the second weekend of December). Both performances are called "Winter (coffeehouse or recital)", because I want to include my several students who do not celebrate Christmas (Jewish, Jehovah's Witness, Muslim). I feel that it's enough that we're performing in a Christian church (usually decorated for the holiday season)--I don't want anyone to feel uncomfortable at a specifically "Christmas" recital.

Students are encouraged to play holiday music if they want--we start learning the pieces right after Halloween. I'd estimate that about two-thirds of my students choose to play or sing Christmas music, with the rest divided between Broadway, Disney, pop, and the occasional sonatina or Italian art song. I'm usually able to avoid duplicating carols, although once in awhile there will be a vocal performance of "O Holy Night" as well as a piano duet version.

My students all do holiday music, and only holiday music. Their "show off" recital is in April, this one is for the fun of it! :-) They seem to practice more with these pieces and we really don't have any repeats. Maybe 2 versions of one or two pieces, but there really are a lot of songs out there! We start early so they all have a few to play. You could fret all day about offending someone (I have a couple that will not participate), but for the rest of us, we just enjoy! Sadly, we are all destined to make someone mad about something someday! :-(

I feature the holiday music - which starts with Thanksgiving music, too, since my studio recitals are usually (tradition) the 1st weekend of December. By mid-December, my studio is closed for two weeks. Early in December, we will also have 2 community performances for Mount Rainier Chapter - WSMTA - MTNA at public locations. So we have several opportunities to play, and we could always add an assisted living residence - which the kids love to do. Some of my students had 5 consecutive years of going to the same senior residence at Christmas.

We also use our "AAA" (Anyone, Anywhere, Anytime) lists for this month. I also include winter themes in music - snow, ice skating, sledding, etc....on and on. Each student usually has about 8 pieces learned, for the older kids, a good rendition of a last year's piece is acceptable. I like for them to try to have a half hour each in playing time for the performance events in the community, but for the studio recital, they do their "high end" and "best" pieces.

I refuse to have the same piece played twice - there is no need to have that happen when we all have such great music available to us. I always provide a printed program of my students performance wherever it is.

We get started in early October because it is a big event for us, and if only for this season, after a few years of lessons, my students have a fairly large repertoire of Christmas music for a lifetime. The beginners and lower elementary play primo's that stand alone, or with accompaniment by a teacher or the parent, or older sibling.

I am giving a program in November at MRC about preparing piano students for this kind of output using the AAA list and preparing for Community Performances. (We also have 2 Spring events in addition to 2 December ones.)

Actually, what I will talk about will be good for a whole years worth of planning, done early in the school year, and projecting dates and deadlines and events. It works for me for many years, and the kids and their families have these dates on my studio calendar and they are asked to save those days for our musical events.

I have chaired the Community Performances and we count on a music retailer to provide the piano for these events.

I want to clarify why I am so careful about having "Winter" performances instead of "Christmas"--I live (and teach) in a very diverse community! When I was growing up & taking piano lessons, 95%+ of our town was Christian, and the few Jewish or non-religious families either celebrated Christmas as a "folk holiday" or, in the case of my best friend's family, took a tropical vacation every year during "Christmas break". But my own kids (in the western Chicago suburbs) have gone to school with Muslim, Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Pagan, you-name-it! And my piano & voice studio right now is probably just 70% Christian students. So I try to be sensitive to students' families, as I realize they're saturated with Christmas in the stores & media from before Halloween to after New Year's.

But I definitely understand having a "Christmas recital" in a community in which almost all students' families celebrate Christmas!

I call mine a "Holiday Recital." It takes place between Thanksgiving and Hanukkah & Christmas. Only about two-thirds of my students choose to play Christmas music, even though most of them do celebrate Christmas. Some just have other kinds of music that they prefer; some have been wanting to play a particular (non-holiday) piece in the next recital, and don't want to put it aside until Spring. It helps that not everyone wants to play holiday music; it can be hard to find enough variety so that everyone can play something different. (Every little one comes in wanting to choose Jingle Bells!)

I like to mix it up, and have the holiday music interspersed with the other pieces.

Knabe, have you considered playing duets with your elementary students? You could write out a lead line for them, and play an accompaniment. Then you could easily have an immense variety of Christmas music to play.

Your replies have really helped a lot. Now I don't feel so nervous about holding a "Christmas Recital"--especially since like I said before, all my students do celebrate Christmas. In fact, I'm getting so exiced that I don't know how much longer I can hold off introducing the holiday pieces!
And Betty--thanks for the idea about winter themes. I've found some cute pieces like "Ice Skating," "Ice Carnival" ect. that will fit in and bring a little divirsity.
John--I really enjoy your comments!

I'd like to clarify one thing...
I do not insist on it being all Christmas music. I would love to have any holiday music from any religion/belief, but the few that I have that aren't Christian will not participate because there will be Christmas music there. I have had Hannukah music, but that is still considered holiday music I guess.

Betty: you say you refuse to have it played more than once. How do you decide who gets to play it if more than one child wants the same piece? Do you do assign them or do a drawing? I let them pick their songs to learn and then they play 3-4 from that list at the "concert". Sometimes that means 1 or 2 songs get played more than once, but it's always a different version of it and they're spread out throughout the evening.

John: I haven't done anything like that to date. All my students perform solos (plus some sibling duets). It's certainly something to consider; thanks for the idea!

E and I: Like Betty, each of my students plays something different. I let my students choose their pieces (within limits and with guidance, of course!). The first to pick a piece has it reserved. I suppose I could allow different arrangements, like a primer level student playing his little five finger version of a carol and a more advanced student playing a more full arrangement, but so far it hasn't been a problem to find something unique for everyone.

It's unfortunate that you have families that won't participate if music not of their faith is played. Too bad they can't celebrate the great diversity that exists among us. I'm lucky -- while I have some families who don't celebrate any holidays, and choose not to have their children play any holiday themed music, they still participate in the holiday recital.

From Knabe26
"It's unfortunate that you have families that won't participate if music not of their faith is played. Too bad they can't celebrate the great diversity that exists among us. I'm lucky -- while I have some families who don't celebrate any holidays, and choose not to have their children play any holiday themed music, they still participate in the holiday recital."

Exactly! But I don't know how to get them to "see the light" so to speak.

Hi, Ebony and Ivory!

This is in response to questions you asked:

I created a master list (excel) of themes: Lullabys, Nature Carols, The Three Wise Men, Stars - Silent Night, Snow, Joy, Secular, Ethnic, Classical Sacred for Christmas - Christian Music, The Journey to Bethlehem, don't forget "Pop" choices, I'm very fond of obscure music and folk music is a must. (This comprises my Christmas and Winter Syllabus on computer.) I have continued to put titles under those categories until it lists every song I teach during the holidays, with the source (composer/publisher) and level. It can all be sorted for Category/Title/Level/Source.

I enter the students names by level on a draft program with the numbers 1.2.3.4. (for titles they are working on this year) some get more, up to the maximum they are working on (8-12) in the preholiday season, but the minimum is 4. (The same song can be assigned to different students - the one who does the best job with their music is chosen to play it.) (Because of multiple community playing opportunities, every one usually gets to play their pieces somewhere, if not at the recital).

I reserve certain songs for new beginners: Jingle Bells, Over the River, Jolly Old Saint Nick, etc., then the pieces get to be more difficult moving up the levels. At about Level 4 - Lake Elementary, the pieces start to be more artistic (there is so much available from the music education composers!) and more rhythmic, the Intermediates and Advanced get the pieces in more #'s and b's, with artistry at the piano being the "keyword".

So, students can select what they want to work on, I concur, and add a few of my own to their list. This list is now on the draft recital program (in categories and by title, composer/arrangers and level.) with several students names who are working on these pieces listed under it.

Two weeks out from the recital, the list gets more clearly formed. The students with least number of choices need to be selected first with the songs the teacher deems finished and presentable. The more experienced students usually have a lot to choose from, and they provide the "interest and unusual music" to enhance the program.

I would say because of developing this system, the students with more than 2-3 years of Christmases under their belts, could each give a 30 minute "Christmas Concert" by themselves. I have taken 3 - 4 students to assisted living homes and easily presented a 45 minute to one hour program many times. They live up to the expectations I have for them. It doesn't happen without having a plan, discipline with the plan, and encouragment to everyone.

I do other recitals during the year with the same planning with other themes which can be specific composers, an era, a style (New Orleans), a country, etc. (AAA Lists just keep growing!)

And, what I've forgotten to say here is that I always give great thought to the outcome of the recital if every piece that was assigned is played: the requirement is that the audience must be delighted to have heard every student and every piece. I plan for the outcome and impact of the program. It's not just music that was assigned and learned, it is structured to be a "musical happening"- it has a pace, a story being told, many emotional stages, beauty, fun, and rhythms. I believe that presenting each upper level student with a contrast in their selections is an important part of the planning.

It isn't just each one going up and playing their 2 pieces until everyone has played. Most of my students go back to the piano several times. I plan for 2 hours for recitals (including social time, and the social time often continues on afterward.)

If you go to the cost and planning of a recital, I think it's important to "showcase" it as a significant and memorable event. Leave them wanting more! They will look forward to recitals.

Rome wasn't built in a day, so I made improvements and changes where I could...I think it took several years before I had my recital "formula" down for my needs.

I hope this makes sense and that something here is usable to other teachers. We each have to find our own preferred way of doing things. Sharing ideas helps us all.

Thanks for asking!

Betty

Betty, you are the Organisation Queen! I thought *I* was organised!

currawong,

Thanks for the "honor". Don't forget this was an evolution of years in the making, wanting to make the process of planning apply to all areas that need preparation and selection of music pieces, so that all performance activities would be covered with as close to 100% participation as possible. In my mind, it was up to me to make the planning as "fail safe" as possible. And, for the most part that has been achieved.

What I am suggesting above looks like a big process, but it really isn't now that the preparatory parts are done, it's become a huge helper to me. I wouldn't recommend it for everyone.

At one time I was very random, abstract, and still have those 'qualities and preferences', but I gained a lot in 'concrete' and 'sequential' along the way. I think the more we can use our whole brain, the more actualized we can be. We also have to take risks sometimes to get us out of our habitual patterns. I, for instance, would kick this process I use, out of the ballpark, it another, simpler, better would take it's place.

Now some of the random things suggested drive me a little nuts: (I was already there) such as 1) drawing straws to decide the order of students in a recital, and 2) just placing them anywhere regardless of song mood, length, or level. I've heard that and it's hard to listen to. I much prefer following themes, or eras, or composers, or even by difficulty level.

I think recitals are when we have great opportunities as teachers to influence the musical content that our listeners will enjoy and to do a little musical education by having program notes, and having little tidbits to say during the recital.

I'd love to hear how you are organized, currawong! I'm always looking for new hints and ideas!

Betty

I also like to organize my recitals by "groupings"(a group of movie themes, a group of sacred Christmas songs, a group of folk songs, etc.), and/or by difficulty level. But it seems that every year a handful of performers tell me "please put me early in the program, because we have to leave by 3:30 to go to another event", or "I can't get there until 3:15, so I need to go at the end of the recital".

Especially in December, it seems that families' calendars are so full of church, school, scouts, parties and so forth that it's a challenge to squeeze yet another event into a Sunday afternoon!

That may be why my kids' teacher holds a Halloween recital rather than a December recital. The kids come in costumes if they like. It's great fun. Some of the music is Halloween themed-some not.