What is the format? do you need a master of ceremonies? Can my son talk about the pieces before performing? The piano recital I went to yesterday was very formal and she left and came back after each song and had someone else introduce the song. I think my son would like it less formal. Any suggestions?
My S did not have a master of ceremonies, didn’t even think of it to be honest. He did a joint Sr. recital with a friend who is now a voice major. They both talked before they presented their last piece just to offer thanks to various people and invite everyone to stay for a reception after. For his recitals in college he has done more talking to give some background where needed on various pieces he is performing. Your S certainly should feel free to speak about the pieces before performing if he is inclined to do so. I always like hearing background about the piece or about the performer’s relationship to the piece if they want to share that.
If he is shy or does not want to speak about the pieces he can always do program notes. Those are pretty common. I assume he will have a printed program. He could also put acknowledgments there. Another alternative is to introduce each half if he has an intermission. Then just a thank you for coming at then end would be fine. It really should just be how he feels about it. There is no one way to do it.
Oh, good. So, it is not necessary to leave after each piece performed? I thought talking could help cut down on needed time. He is still trying to add more repetoire, and I said to add program notes and explanations instead of stressing himself out with preparing new music. The recital yesterday was too long for me at 1.5 hours. I personally think 45 minutes would be perfect.
Any other ideas? He wants to have the lights turned down low for the last song and let the light filter in through the stain glass windows.
Some will leave after a set or long piece to give themselves a break. I think a half point break is more common. And 45 minutes is plenty for a HS student. Is his teacher helping with the rep he is doing? He can treat it as a celebration not a test 
He could always make the new items something fun. DD (VP) threw in some Cole Porter and on Grandma’s request the Lord’s Prayer instead of all serious classical pieces. Time enough later for the degree recitals. The lighting idea sounds nice.
Him and his teacher came up with a great modern piece to end it. It’s only one fun piece but that is plenty.
That is a good way to put it…a celebration!
There should definitely be a printed program- a single page is fine and program notes are not necessary at this level unless he wants to (he’ll have to do them in college and graduate school), and a brief, ten minute intermission is good for everyone! Your son can stand at the end of the recital and thank everyone for coming, then move to the door, or hallway and shake hands with “his adoring public”! Are you having a reception immediately following the recital?
Yes, we are having a reception immediately after. it’s just that the piano recital was so formal, I am trying to figure out what to keep and what not to do.
Is it in a venue that hosts a lot of classical recitals? If so, they frequently have a few good ideas as to placement, lighting, sound and “crowd control”. Have fun!
No. It our lutheran church that has good acoustics and natural lighting. It is an old cathedral style church. Perfect for playing Bach. No microphones are needed.
I should clarify — by sound, I meant placement of microphones to record. :-"
Anyone want to share any fun or different things they did for their child’s recital?
musicamusica, the church charges a lot of money to use their sound system. It would have to be our microphones.
We did a photo cake for our cellist son with a picture of him with cello from when he started at age 4. I think money spent on a great recording is an investment an well worth it. We hired someone to record it who had good equipment.
Part of this recital was son’s compositions and he had both brother and teacher play on one of the pieces. He also invited all of his cello, piano and composition teachers from over the years. A couple of the early teachers came.
With the recital, how you do it is really up to your son and his comfort level. I think having programs notes is always a great idea, especially since you may have a lot of people not familiar with the repertoire, or even recognize the pieces. I also think an intermission is a great idea, if the recital is going to be long, gives people a chance to stretch or use the loo, and it also gives your son a break, if the recital is 45 minutes, play for 20 something, 10 minute or so intermission, and then 20 something minutes, total time will be around an hour.
In terms of what he wears, up to him and you, my son always wore what he considered concert attire, nice pair of pants, dress shirt with or without a jacket, usually black…but that is him.
If your son feels comfortable talking about the pieces, audiences seem to like that. It wasn’t a high school recital, but my son did the beethoven concerto as his recital, and did a talk before about the piece, its origins and beethoven’s music (he blew my wife and I away with that one, it was really, really fun to listen to, he could give Robert Greenurg or the Learning Company a run for his money!). Obviously, your son probably wouldn’t want to go to that length, but for example if doing the bach solo cello suite, it might be interesting to talk about how they like its violin siblings were almost lost, and that for close to a century they were thought to be a training exercise until Casals pretty much single handedly turned it into standard recital fare…you get the idea, makes it a lot more human and approachable, but that also is up to your son, he may simply want to play, maybe have someone else simply introduce the pieces.
Thanks, cellomom6, for asking this question, and thanks for all the great replies. I’m planning a senior recital for S1 myself and am getting great info here. I wouldn’t have even thought of program notes or an intermission. Great ideas, all. Ours will be in our Lutheran church, too, cellomom6. I just got the date and time nailed down with the secretary yesterday.
Me too and it turns out there is a huge price difference between recording and video. So we will do sound and recording for only 55 bucks…yay! They are quite good at it so not worried about quality. I was thinking about having his Youth Advisor be master of ceremonies because he’s so funny. He knows absolutely nothing about music but that could actually be quite entertaining.