Planning and organizing concert events is part of every music educator’s job description, whether you are a gifted event planner or not. We’ve compiled a list of teacher-tested tips to help you with all your concert planning efforts. Download our free checklist as your starting point—hopefully, it will spark some great ideas to keep you organized and help you plan meaningful concert events for your students and their families.

Select a date 

First things first: when will you have your concert? You may need to collaborate with colleagues who share the same performance space as you or coordinate transportation to another site, depending on where your concert will be held. 

Scheduling an annual calendar meeting with fine arts colleagues and/or directors from your feeder pattern is crucial. Consider building events, district events, and rehearsal needs for all parties involved when scheduling time and space. It is also helpful to keep athletic schedules in mind when planning for the year. 

Be sure to think through things like your setup and what other presence is needed at a school event (custodians, security officer, administrator, etc.) as well as any facility requests needed for air or parking lot lights.

Communicate to students and families 

How will you let students and families know about your concert? Creating a simple concert reminder document with important details like date, timing, and other requirements that you can update for each event can save time. You can even create a version for each event on your calendar far in advance to get ahead! It also helps to communicate in a variety of ways: use email, a classroom messaging tool if you use one, or even mailing label stickers printed with concert information for students to place on their shirts or music binders.

Event details 

Try creating a main document to hold all details for each concert: a “Concert Itinerary” of sorts. Be as detailed as possible and include estimated times for all aspects of the event. A concert itinerary is a great place for you to think through and list out what you’d like to say when speaking at the concert and to keep a running list of people to acknowledge or thank throughout the event. 

A concert itinerary is also an excellent place for details on equipment or percussion that may need to be moved before, during, and after the concert. Remember to share your itinerary with all adults and/or student leaders who will be helping you so that the plans are clear to everyone.

VIPs 

Accompanist: don’t leave your accompanist out of the planning process! Consider how you will thank them for their help in pulling off a wonderful performance—a thank you card, gift, and public acknowledgment is always appreciated. 

District VIPs: consider inviting other music educators from your district or area. Feeder pattern teachers love to see former and future students (and might even lend a helping hand!), and district administrators enjoy seeing students in action. 

Remember to acknowledge and thank other essential helpers like custodians, office staff, campus officers, and your supporting administrators.

The concert is now over! Now what?

What is your cleanup plan? Do you expect students to help? Can you record the concert and listen to it during class the next time you see your students? Every performance has moments of things going both wrong and right—it’s helpful to give students an opportunity to unpack and learn from their experiences in a reflective way. Taking a few minutes to write individual reflections (from a prompt you provide like this one) and then sharing them as a class can be a meaningful and calm activity for post-concert days. A brief reflection time can also provide an individual way for students to communicate to you in writing or in quiet conversation about why they may not have been able to attend the concert.

What’s next? Don’t wait for one concert to be over to begin making selections for the next one! Start thinking through an appropriate program before you need to pass it out to aid in planning and preparation. Consider keeping a running list of potential performance music physically, on a document, or on a MakeMusic Cloud Playlist that you can add to and reference. You can even invite students to explore and build their own ideal concert as an activity by providing them some parameters and demonstrating how to search for and listen to potential concert titles!

You’ve got a lot to keep track of, so take a little off your plate and grab your free concert checklist download to help you get started planning an organized and successful concert!