The Collaborative Recital

One of the things I love about being in a local music teachers association is the access to different events for students at my studio. Whether it’s a master class or a workshop, students are provided with lots of opportunities, thanks to the ideas, work and expertise of colleagues in my profession.

Several times a year, our group rents the recital hall at our university and hosts collaborative recitals. Students have opportunity to play on an absolutely incredible Steinway piano in a fabulous venue, a unique treat for them and their families.

Are you a member of a local teaching association, or do you have colleagues with whom you might consider hosting such a recital? Here’s why I think collaborative recitals are so great:

• If you have a smaller studio, your students get to take part in an event with a larger audience. When I first began my studio with six beginning level students, I was so grateful to have larger recitals for performance opportunities that lasted longer than eight minutes!
• Your students will get to hear a variety of levels. I teach mostly beginning and intermediate level students, but there are some in my association who teach absolutely amazing advanced, college-age students. It’s inspiring for students AND their parents to hear advanced students play and see and hear what they can do if they commit to practicing.
• Your students get to hear a variety of instruments and styles. In my association, we have a violin and vocal teacher along with a piano teacher who focuses on pop-style music and songwriting. It’s so cool to hear a student singing opera in Italian one minute and a piano arrangement of a Coldplay song the next.
• It broadens your horizons as a teacher. Sometimes I’ll hear music by a great new composer or be reminded of a classical piece I think might be a good fit for a student when I hear it performed by a musician at another studio. I’ll hear different techniques and different ways to play a piece that I hadn’t thought of before. All of this exposure allows me to grow tremendously as a teacher.