Tips for Music Educators: Supporting Audience Guidelines

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Tips for Success brought to you by the Music Achievement Council (MAC) help answer a range of questions, from how to prepare an instrument replacement plan to how to expand the learning power of music. In the video titled, Telling The Story: Supporting Audience Guidelines, Frank Lestina and Ray Oswalt chat about setting high expectations for audience behavior and appropriate participation.

“You have to realize that at least 50% of your parents are not average classical concert goers… I think it’s very important, almost every concert to make those few mentions of you know that no cell phones, please don’t talk to your neighbor it’s distracting, no flash photography is a big one.” – Frank Lestina

Video Sound Bites

“We talk about the fact that texting is silent, but often the screens are facing the other people behind you so therefore they can be distracting. We ask [the audience to] give [their] full attention to the performers on stage.” – Frank Lestina

On what to tell the audience:

“We appreciate your attendance, and we want to make the evening as special as possible for everyone involved on the stage and in the audience. [If we perform] Barber’s Adagio for Strings, [which has] a climax followed by a silence in the middle- there’s a potential danger in [that] you might think it’s over. But hold that thought and I promise I’ll let you know when it’s really over.” – Ray Oswalt

Tips for Success brought to you by the Music Achievement Council help answer a range of questions, from how to prepare an instrument replacement plan to how to expand the learning power of music. These tips are complemented by short videos and will enhance the user’s experience.

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