Nature of the Occasion<\/strong><\/p>\n While you are in the brainstorming stage for your recital, imagine what type of recital you would like to present. Are you hoping for an extremely formal affair? Would you like to have it be more experimental? These types of questions will help you settle some logistical details. The date you choose to schedule will be determined by some of these details. If your recital is going to be an extravagant affair or you are thinking of programming truly difficult music, you will probably want to give yourself ample time to prepare.<\/p>\n Profile of the audience<\/strong><\/p>\n It is extremely important to program the music that you love and perform superbly. However, it does not hurt to think about your potential audience. The truth is that you will probably know 90% of your audience if you are programming a hometown recital. Do not wait until the publicity stage to think about who you want to connect with. Start with the creative process now. Who will want to hear this work? Is there something else in your repertoire that goes hand in hand with this that your friends, family, coworkers, and their connections will want to hear?<\/p>\n “It is often humbling to learn of the efforts and sacrifices people make to attend concerts and recitals: they deserve the best we can give.” –\u00a0 Stephen Cleobury <\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n Programming<\/strong><\/p>\n “The principles of constructing such a program are something like writing a play: you need a beginning, a good first half closer, and a trajectory through the second half that clinches the story. Using several singers rather than just a single artist, we are able to consider a wider range of songs for the program; and having more than one vocalist instantly creates a sense of drama. If you do them right, thematic recitals focus the audience’s attention where it belongs \u2014 on the words and music at hand, rather than on the diva’s dress, or on comparisons with past performances. The rapt concentration of the audiences, their willingness to take a musical journey into parts unknown and their discovery that songs can teach you about history and expand your horizons have vindicated my original belief: people have an intrinsic need to be sung to, and song recitals should address that need as directly as possible.” – Steven Blier<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n Mr. Blier certainly knows his stuff when it comes to constructing an art song recital. After all, he is the Artistic Director of the New York Festival of Song<\/a> (NYFOS), which he co-founded in 1988 with Michael Barrett. In the quote above he makes a strong case for structuring a recital like a play or even with a narrative concept. If you skim this paragraph, just remember this:<\/strong> please dear God, no more greatest-hits-in-chronological-order recitals! Please. Your audience truly wants to be transported through the music you have chosen. Use all of those creative skills you have been honing for years to make a statement (that statement doesn’t always have to be serious, though.) Pick a topic that you are passionate about and comb your repertoire list as well as catalogs for musical works that tell the story. (Shout out to Karen Mercedes on New Forum for Classical Singers<\/a>. If you are lost when it comes to rep, she can find you anything!<\/em>)<\/p>\n
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