Public Performance:
Recital Information & Procedures

Philosophy

Music is inherently a performing art.  The Greatbatch School of Music affirms this through its requirement that all students enrolled in curricula leading to the Bachelor of Music degree will present at least one solo recital as a part of degree requirements.  To assure highest quality in required degree recitals, the Greatbatch School presents a wide variety of recitals each year to provide opportunity for students to perform during each semester of private study. 

An important auxiliary purpose of student performance is listening:

• Listening to students in Studio, Departmental, and SPS recitals allows the individual to see musical growth and discuss problems encountered by various students.  This may include critique and evaluation by the instructor. Final results in degree recitals may then be better evaluated.
• Attending Artist Series events and Faculty Recitals provides the student with opportunities to hear music at a high level of achievement.  These events should provide satisfying aesthetic experiences in music through listening.
• To this end, all BMus majors are require to document attendance at fourteen (14) GSoM events each semester, including all Artist Series events and all faculty recitals. Procedures are outlined below.

Recital Attendance Policy

(Policy passed 1/29/79, amended 2/27/86)

Bachelor of Music majors are required to attend at least 14 recitals per semester.  It is expected that within the 14 will be all Artist Series.  Attendance at faculty recitals, major ensemble concerts, junior recitals, senior recitals, Young Performers Series, and departmental recitals completes the requirement.  Student teachers are excused from recital attendance during the semester of student teaching.

BA majors are required to attend at least 10 recitals per semester for a minimum of four semesters. It is expected that within the 10 will be all Artist Series.

Students are required to sign in at all recitals and sign out from all recitals except Artist Series.

Students may receive credit for recitals in which they perform if they stay for the entire recital.

Sign-in begins 15 minutes before the recital starts and ends at the recital’s beginning time.  Sign out begins when the recital ends and lasts for about 5 minutes.  This gives you plenty of time to walk to the back of the auditorium. Do your socializing after you sign out, not before.

DO NOT approach the checker during the recital to tell him that you have arrived.  That person is there to enjoy the concert and does not appreciate interruptions.

DO NOT approach the checker the next day or later that evening and say, “I forgot to sign out.”  It is your responsibility to sign in and out.  If you forget, it’s your problem.

Sign in and out yourself.  DO NOT have someone else do it for you.  The checker will mark the person she sees.

Artist Series ushers, stagehands, recording personnel, and performers do not need to sign in or out.

Any student missing an Artist Series must make up the concert by attending a significant off-campus concert. The concert must be approved by the director.

All recital attendance deficiencies must be made up in the succeeding semester.  The student will receive notification of any deficiencies during the last week of the semester.

Any student with recital deficiencies will not be allowed to graduate until such deficiencies are made up.

Attendance at all faculty recitals is expected.

Lack of fulfillment of the recital attendance requirement for two consecutive semesters will result in a conference with the director, who shall arrange a suitable method of making up the deficiency in the following semester.

Normally no more than two recitals attended off-campus shall be credited towards the 14 required recitals.

Attendance Documentation
Three attendance checkers will be appointed by the Recital Coordinator each year, one each from Voice, Keyboard, and Instrumental Departments.

Duties

• One of the above must be present at all recitals and concerts, and must be present both 15 minutes before each concert and long enough following to allow students to sign in and out.
• Each must be present at their respective departmental recitals to check attendance.
• Attendance forms are to be delivered in person to the music office the following morning.

Types of Recitals & Requirements

Studio Recitals or Classes
Many studio teachers regularly hold recitals or classes for their studio only.  The purpose is to provide frequent, less formal performance opportunities and to impart specific knowledge.  Procedures vary. See your studio teacher.

Departmental Recitals
Voice, Keyboard and Instrumental Departments individually present recitals two to four times per semester.  Schedules are normally posted early in the semester.  These are usually held in the recital hall or the chapel auditorium.

Recital cards are due at noon the day of the recital in the Music Office, with the applied teacher's signature.  Incorrectly filled out cards will be returned to the student's box.

Student Performers Series (SPS)
These recitals are presented on Thursdays from 11-11:30 in the recital hall. They are a prime opportunity to hear your student colleagues, and to hone your performance skills before a wider audience of you peers. First preference in scheduling is given to students who are not performing degree recitals in that semester.

Junior and Senior Recitals (Degree Recitals)
Students in Music Education and Composition curricula must present half-hour recitals, normally in the senior year or at the end of the junior year just before the student teaching internship.  Applied performance majors are required to present a half-hour recital in the junior year and an hour recital in the senior year.  A half-hour recital consists of no more than 25-30 minutes of music and a full recital consists of no more than 50-60 minutes of music.

A minimum attainment of LL40 and teacher permission is required for any full recital. When recital forms are issued during the spring semester, a student intending to give a recital the following year may request the date of the recital with the agreement of the applied teacher.  The teacher will sign the necessary form and the student must return it to the Music Office. These forms are numbered as they are received and, when possible, student dates are assigned in the order they are received. Non-required recitals will be scheduled last. The director will confirm the exact date of the recital.  The list will be posed on the elevator board, and the student will have one week to request a change or the date will be assumed to be satisfactory. The director has final approval for all dates, working in consultation with studio faculty.

Students doing half recitals may request their partners, by mutual agreement.  This choice should be indicated on the recital request form and both partners’ forms should be submitted together. If no preference is indicated, the music office will assign partners.

Recitals will not be scheduled on Saturdays except under extraordinary circumstances.  Approval of the entire performance-area faculty by vote is required.

Length of Degree Recitals

Please be reminded that half-length recitals are to consist of 30 minutes of music maximum, and that full-length recitals are to consist of 60 minutes of music maximum.  Given our extremely busy recital schedule, it is a courtesy to yourself, your professors, and your colleagues to adhere to these limits.  Please remind your private teacher of these limits as you are selecting music for your recital.  Should you have more than the limit, please plan on performing the extra music on an SPS or in a departmental recital.  Bear in mind that exact timings of numbers are crucial in your preparation.  Thank you for your cooperation in this matter.

Program Notes

Program notes are required for all degree recitals. Program notes should be a concise aid to the listener, not a scholarly dissertation. These program notes constitute a formal part of the recital and are subject to recital grading procedures.

A vocalist should also provide a translation or paraphrase of all songs sung in a foreign language. Care must be taken to observe copyright laws concerning translations or paraphrases. (Mere translations are not program notes in themselves.)  Instrumentalists may wish to provide information of an historical or musical nature.

The student assumes the cost of having program notes reproduced at Quickprint.

Take care in preparing program notes: misspelling and a haphazard look create a very unprofessional impression.

Programs

The student's program (design, copy, editing, printing, and distribution) is the responsibility of the performer.

The following statement must appear at the bottom of the last page of the program: “Mr./Miss __________________________, a student of________________  is performing this recital in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Bachelor of Music/Bachelor of Arts degree in _____________.”

At the bottom of the program page, the following statement should appear: “As a courtesy to the performers and your fellow audience members, please be certain that all cell phones, watch alarms, and pagers are either turned off or set for silent operation. Flash photography can be very disconcerting to performers and is not permitted during the performance. Thanks for your cooperation.”

A draft of the program should be approved by your principal teacher three weeks AHEAD of the recital.

ALWAYS proofread the program. If you do not trust your own eyes, ask someone to proof for you.

The final copy should be taken to Quickprint AT LEAST one week before the recital.

Degree Recital Grading

(To commence fall 2006, for a one-year trial period)

1. Degree recitals shall be assigned a letter grade, determined by averaging the grades from a committee of no fewer than three faculty members in attendance at the recital.

2. A recital evaluation rubric shall be used by each member of the faculty committee in formulating and reporting the recital letter grade. The rubric shall be developed by the faculty within the appropriate performance area (instrumental, keyboard, voice or composition) and will take the quality of program notes into account. The recital rubric shall spell out standards for awarding a recital grade of 'A', 'B', 'C' or 'F' (with plusses or minuses possible as well). For the purposes of averaging, an 'A+' will be assigned a numerical value of 15, 'A' a value of 14, 'A-' a value of 13, and so on down to ‘F‘ with a value of 1. (For this purpose we skip ‘D+’, ‘D’, ‘D-‘, ‘F+’ and ‘F-‘; the scale jumps directly from ‘C-‘ at 7 to ‘F’ at 1). These numbers will be averaged and the result reconverted to a letter grade on the same scale. For example, if three faculty members are present and the reported grades are 'A', 'A-', and 'B', the averaged grade would be 'A-' (14+13+11 = 38/3 = 12.66, rounded up to 13). Any average score below 7 (after rounding) will be designated as an 'F'.

Each rubric will include the following general categories (in addition to any others desired):

- Musicality, style and faithfulness to the score
- Technical facility and note accuracy
- Quality of program notes
- Appropriate level of difficulty

Furthermore, a statement shall appear on the rubric indicating that the first two of these will be given substantially more weight in the grading than the last two.

Finally, each rubric will be constructed so as to describe in a series of statements what constitutes an 'A' recital, a 'B' recital, a 'C' recital, and an 'F' recital. Parallel language is helpful in this regard.

3. The final recital letter grade shall be reported to the student, but not to the Academic Records Office. Written comments about the recital may be included at the discretion of each faculty member. Copies of the grade report will be placed in the student's music office file.

4. The applied music grade for the semester in which the recital is given shall be determined by combining the final recital grade (at 60%) and the studio teacher's applied grade (at 40%). This final applied music grade for the semester shall be reported to the Academic Records Office for placement on the student's transcript.

5. When the recital grade is a 'C+', 'C' or 'C-', it shall be designated as 'conditional pass'. The appropriate area faculty may, at its discretion, require the student who receives such a grade to repeat one or more of the recital selections during end-of-semester juries. When such repetition is required, the original recital grade shall constitute 40% of the semester applied grade, and an additional grade constituting 20% of the semester applied grade will be given for the repeated pieces at the jury. (The final 40% of the semester applied grade will be the studio teacher's reported applied grade, as per #4 above.)

6. When the recital grade is an 'F', the entire recital must be repeated. The student will not be assured a second recital slot on the regular School of Music calendar for this purpose, and the recital repetition may be scheduled to occur after the end of the regular semester if necessary. The applied grade for the semester will be designated as 'incomplete' until the recital is repeated satisfactorily. The repeated recital will be graded as per #1-3 above, and the final applied grade will be calculated and reported as per #4 above, based on the repeated recital.

7. Since it is the studio teacher who must report the final semester applied grade to Records, it will be the responsibility of that studio teacher (not the music office) to calculate that grade (60% recital grade, 40% applied studio grade).

A Degree Recital Checklist

(copy and print as desired)

At the beginning of the recital semester:
____  1) Reserve rehearsal time
____  2) Reserve reception place (if needed)

Three weeks before the recital:
____  1) Prepare the program.  Have it approved by studio teacher and get it to Quickprint
____  2) Prepare program notes.  Have them approved by studio teacher.
____  3) Take publicity notes to Scoop Sheet, WJSL and any other source.
____  4) Take poster material to Quickprint to be printed.
____  5) Ask someone to serve as stage manager for you.
____  6) If a copy of the master recording of the recital is desired, or if any special arrangements are desired for taping, contact the Sound & Recording Supervisor.

One week before the recital:
____  1) Pick up and display posters.
____  2) Take program & program notes to Quickprint.
____  3) Ask someone to open your recital with prayer, Scripture or other suitable method.
____  4) Ask two friends to usher and as many as needed to serve as stage crew (normally 1-3).

A few (2-3) days before:
____  1) Check to see that programs and notes are finished and pick them up.
____  2) Attend to any last minute details.

Chamber Music & Ensemble Work

Students wishing to perform chamber music using students other than their accompanists must secure the permission of those students’ private teachers (or ensemble director in case of string students not studying privately) in advance.

Chamber of ensemble repertoire involving such students should ideally be selected in the spring of the year before the recital, but in no case later than the first month of the semester before the recital.

Non-Piano Accompaniments
Students wishing to use organ or harpsichord in their recitals must clear the person playing the instrument with the harpsichord or organ instructor.  Normally the only students permitted to play on those instruments are those students currently studying that instrument in the semester in which the recital is to be given.

Harpsichord Guidelines
The school's harpsichord was built by Willard Martin in 1986.  It is an Italian, two-manual instrument. You are encouraged to use it in your recitals or events as appropriate.  Here are a few guidelines to help you in using the harpsichord.

The Harpsichordist: The harpsichordist must be a student who has taken harpsichord lessons or a faculty member.  You should inform both your teacher and the harpsichord faculty member of your desire to use the harpsichord.

Logistics:  The harpsichord must be moved to the location of the performance at least 5 hours before the performance and returned immediately following the performance.  The harpsichord needs time to adjust to the change in temperature and humidity in order to stay in tune.

Tuning:  The harpsichord will probably need to be tuned after moving and perhaps “touched-up” immediately before the concert.  Your harpsichordist is responsible for tuning the instrument.  He/she will need about an hour to tune the harpsichord after it has been moved.  You need to sign out time for tuning the harpsichord.

Moving The Harpsichord:  When moving the harpsichord, a music faculty member must be present.  This is normally your applied teacher.

Some hints for moving the harpsichord:

• Five strong people are needed to move the harpsichord to and from the stage.  You also need 1 or 2 people to carry the trestle.
• The brown cover must be on the harpsichord when moving it.
• The trestle on the bottom of the harpsichord is detachable.  The harpsichord simply lifts off it.  Be certain to place the harpsichord back on the trestle so that the holes on the trestle match the indentations on the bottom of the harpsichord.
• Flesh and bone heals; wood does not.

Reserving Rehearsal Time and Reception Location

At the beginning of the recital semester, the student should reserve rehearsal time in the hall.

A student giving an hour recital is allowed to reserve 5 hours of rehearsal time in the hall; a student giving a half-hour recital is allowed 3 hours.  Choose your hours in consultation with your applied teacher or notify him/her when your choices are made.  REMEMBER, SCHEDULING IS ON A FIRST-COME, FIRST-SERVED BASIS.

The place of the reception, if desired, should also be reserved.  For degree recitals, the CFA Adelmann Atrium is normally used.

The Chapel auditorium, Recital Hall and foyers are reserved through the Music Office.

Advertising the Recital
A student is responsible for her own posters if desired.  Orders for posters should be taken to Quickprint two weeks before the recital, picked up, and posted one week before the recital date.

An announcement should be placed in the Scoop Sheet so that it will appear one week before the program (i.e. submission two weeks before recital).

Other advertising possibilities may exist for use at the student’s own discretion – e.g. hometown newspapers.

Recital Logistics
You are responsible for securing your own stage crew for recitals.  Set changes and set-up changes of any sort should be minimized.  For example, instrumentalists — it is permissible to carry you own music onto the stage and set it on the stand rather having an extra trip by a stage crew member.  Also, if ensemble music is being performed, arrange the stage so that both solo numbers with piano and ensemble numbers can be done without rearranging the stage.  Thanks for your cooperation in this matter. The recital hall risers will be cleared by the paid setup crew.

Dress

• For Junior/Senior Recitals: semi-formal
  • Women: Long or street-length dresses, dress shoes
  • Men: Suits and ties or formal wear, dress shoes
• SPS: Business casual (Think about it as you dress for the day.)
• Departmental recitals: Varies
  • Voice Departmental – Sunday best
  • Others – casual to Sunday best: check with your teachers.
• Studio – casual

Non-Degree Recitals

Definition: a non-degree recital shall be defined as any solo recital presentation not directly required for degree conferral.  Common examples would include:  a full-length recital when only a half-length recital is required, an additional recital in the senior year after a half-length degree recital has already been performed, or a full-length recital (rather than half-length) in the junior year prior to another full-length recital in the senior year.

Scheduling: Non-degree recitals (including expanded-length recitals) will be scheduled after all required recitals are scheduled.

All non-degree recitals will be scheduled in priority order based on the order in which they were received in the Music Office.
Example:  A student wishing to perform a one-hour senior recital (but required to give only a half-length senior recital) turns in an approved recital request to the Music Office.  That form is #3 in order of receipt, and the first non-degree request.  43 other requests are received, 30 of them for required recitals only.  That student’s recital will be scheduled first AFTER the 30 required recitals.

Students who wish to give independent (i.e., not sponsored by the GSoM) performances are welcome to do so. Presser Hall can be scheduled for performances if not in use for class or rehearsal and if the desired time does not conflict with a GSoM event. Area churches or other on-campus venues (East Hall lounge, for example) may also be approached as possible venues.

Recital Etiquette for Performers and Audience

Performers
The recitalist should walk confidently and moderately (to center stage) followed by the accompanist and page-turner (if needed).  The page-turner, if female, may precede the accompanist if male.  The page-turner may carry the music to the piano.

The recitalist and accompanist bow graciously to acknowledge the audience applause.  The purpose of the bow is to thank the audience for being present. However, if applause has stopped by the time you reach your position, simply proceed. The recital then begins.

At degree recitals (Junior/Senior) bows should be taken after each set as follows:

• recitalist bows first, then acknowledges accompanist, who stands and both bow and leave, recitalist first, then accompanist and page-turner.

                           OR

• recitalist bows, then acknowledges the accompanist who bows seated.  The recitalist bows again and leaves, etc.

The recitalist should choose one of the above procedures, practice it and be consistent.  (Sloppy bows look very unprofessional, and there is no excuse for them).  Plan “a” should ALWAYS occur at an SPS or Departmental Recital after the usual one piece performed.

At a degree recital, if applause is offered after each song, the performer should bow gently, acknowledge the accompanist, and continue.  If you wish, it is appropriate to request that the audience withhold applause until the end of a group.  However, Houghton audiences are fairly well trained.

At the end of a recital, the recitalist bows, acknowledges the accompanist who stands, then both bow and leave, recitalist first, etc.  If the audience calls the recitalist back, he should return with his accompanist and both bow.  If a third call is given, the recitalist should return alone to the stage.

Audience
Honor the performer by being prompt.  Be seated before the program is scheduled to begin.

Turn off cell phones, pagers, and watch alarms before entering the venue.

Do not talk to your neighbor during pieces.  Save comments for between pieces and set or for intermission.  Listeners and performers alike are disturbed by noisy concert-goers.

If you are unavoidably late, remain in the foyer behind closed doors until the piece being played or sung is completed.  Then be seated in the back (or stand if there are no seats) until a large enough break in the program occurs so that you can take your seat without causing a disturbance.

Applause
Polite and gracious applause is normally offered when the performer or conductor first appears on stage.

If a piece has several movements listed on the program, applaud after all movements are completed.

If two or more short pieces by the same composer are presented, applaud only after all are completed.

If several short pieces by different composers are presented, it is appropriate to applaud after each one unless specifically grouped to indicate no applause.

At the end of the program applause is offered to indicate appreciation.

When in doubt, wait for more knowledgeable musicians in the audience to begin the applause.

Social Aspects of a Recital

A STUDENT SHOULD NOT FEEL COMPELLED IN ANY WAY TO GIVE A RECEPTION FOLLOWING HIS RECITAL.  However, if he or she so chooses, the following should be observed:

• The purpose of a reception is to give the performer(s) opportunity to greet and thank guests for being present.  It also allows the performer to relax among friends.
• It is wise for the performer to appoint friends or family to help plan and execute the reception, leaving her free to attend only to the recital.
• Etiquette
• The student should make prior arrangements for someone to open the reception with prayer and serve as host or hostess.  This person should see that the reception is begun upon arrival of the performer(s).
• The host/hostess and the performer should ensure that parents and special guests are escorted through the serving line first.  STUDENT ATTENDEES: take the hint and remember your manners!