<p>Speaking as a parent of musicians and as a piano teacher, I think you need to be the one keeping track of dates and being secretary.</p>
<p>I remember driving to my son’s teacher (an hour away) and sitting and waiting for him to finish writing a recommendation because it had to be mailed that day. When he was done, I took it to the post office. Great teacher, but my priorities were not his. Nor did I feel they should be.</p>
<p>So get a calendar, figure out when various deadlines are, and feed them to the teacher a few weeks in advance, and follow up as often as necessary. </p>
<p>I don’t think payment is expected or necessary. A thank-you note for things that take time is appropriate. A thank-you gift is nice. (Not each time, but maybe at holidays or something, with a note that it is because of all they’ve done to help.)</p>
<p>The above is written with the idea that we are talking about deadlines for summer programs, all state, public competitions, and the like. If instead you are asking about things like festivals through the teacher’s music associations - here again, you can ask when the deadlines are, and if you can help. Express your desire to have your child participate in these things, and be prepared to pay all entrance fees, etc. (If your teacher is a member of these things, he/she pays a fairly hefty annual dues, and must also agree to volunteer at a certain number of events. Perhaps this is the stumbling block, which you can’t do anything about.) But if your child doesn’t participate, no, I don’t believe this will “hurt” your child in any way. The benefit to those things is the performance experience, so as long as your child is getting experience in another way, that is what matters.</p>
<p>There are things you can do apart from the teacher. Google competitions, scholarships, summer programs, etc., and enter on your own. You might ask your teacher to create a “generic” recommendation letter for your child - write some wonderful things, but address it To Whom it May Concern. Print and sign a few copies, put them in sealed envelopes, and then you can send it off when necessary.</p>
<p>In the end, the resume only serves to be a written documentation of your child’s training and experience, and assuming the resume isn’t blank, no student is going to be rejected because they skipped festival one year.</p>