It's that time of the year for end of year student concerts again...it was bit of a breeze last year, found a lovely church with a grand, and managed find a day most people can make it.

This year it has been a nightmare, I've called close to 20 venues and none of them are available! I've managed to find a date when most students are available but of course none of the venues are available at the same time so really tearing my hair out here! It doesn't help that the church that originally agreed to give us the venue pulled out at the last minute due to a church function.

Should I just give up and do a concert in January instead? I've gone from wanting a hall with a grand to now accepting upright piano with a hall, and from originally planning a tea break to no tea break to accommodate the time restirictions on venues, but still no success!! If anyone on this forum has brilliant ideas on venues in west London this would be very, very welcome

How frustrating for you Beagle. I now have to book my student concert venue a year in advance. It's true I also have to find a date when the accompanist is free! The hall we use is the only one with adequate car parking facilities and a decent size kitchen with a big stainless steel table for our catering lady's requirements. Now that the credit crunch is biting the hall has become very popular for weddings, so Saturdays are hard to get exactly when you want them. I gave up on trying to find one with a decent piano and ended up buying a Yamaha Clavinova which we transport every time. Luckily my husband has a large van for his plumbing business - I don't know what I shall do when he retires!!
I think a January concert sounds very nice - it will give everyone something to look forward to in the new year in the anticlimax after Christmas. Good luck.

December tends to be a very difficult month to book venues : were it me, I'd be inclined at this late stage to look into doing your concert in January, which traditionally tends to be quieter.

I'm going to do a concert in February or March because I hope people will be less busy at that time. Normally I have a concert in June, but it gets booked up with other people's family "do"s and exams etc etc.

Found one! VERY expensive though... £55 per hour plus £10 for the use of their steinway grand. It's a steinway after all, and I'm planing to play also to take advantage of the steinway grand. This probably means admission fees will have to be at least £4 per adult to be able to afford it but I think it will work.

Well done on finding somewhere.

I've always had my student concert on the third Saturday in January and found it to be a very good time - Christmas is much too busy for most people. We decide before Christmas what they are going to play and I suggest using that "dead" period between Christmas and New Year for practising. Pupils are back to lessons for a while before the concert, and there are no school or other events competing for attention. I usually get 100% attendance from the children, with just a couple of adult learners who don't want to perform. We use our local church, which has a grand piano. The only snag is that it can be cool at that time of year, despite the church being heated, so I make sur eI have plenty of layers on. The children don't seem to notice!

I am planning my first Christmas concert for my students too, luckily we have found a local church hall which sounds appropriate.

I'd like some advice from the more experienced, if the original poster doesn't mind me hijacking their thread rather! I have around a dozen students, all aged between 5 and 8, all pre Grade 1. I just want to give them all a performance opportunity and chance to show off to their parents/ grandparents etc, and don't want anybody to get too stressed about it. Is it asking too much of a 5 year old to ask them to get up in front of a bunch of parents etc and perform? (On a real piano as well - almost all of them only have electric keyboards at home). Do other teachers have such young children perform in their concerts?

Jo

Perfectly posible and good to get 5 year olds performing alongside everyone else - if you start them off early in their musical careers with a regular diet of little performances, they will get used to it, and it won't be such a big deal when they are older and more self-conscious.

I sometimes start by going over what I expect from a performance - it is so much more than just getting up and playing - walk up and smile at your audience, announce your piece with a Big Voice, adjust the piano stool, get comfortable, count to 3, 10 or whatever before you start, breathe in and out and GO! Then enjoy playing, smile and keep going whatever happens, finish nicely - ie no running away as the last note sounds, bow and smile, then walk back to your place.

You could even get the little ones to come up to the front together and have a practice bow and a clap - it all fills the time and helps to make everyone feel relaxed, and lets them know exactly what they have to do - kids worry about the most unexpected little things!

My little ones are collecting stickers towards a performance certificate. I sometimes have little prizes or a raffle and always tea and cake afterwards. Good luck with your concert!

I have young pupils playing in all my concerts and they find it very exciting, as do their parents & grandparents. This year my youngest was 5. He hadn't been playing for very long and he had family who travelled up from the Midlands to hear him. Unfortunately, he broke his arm 2 weeks before the concert, but we went ahead with his pieces, except I had to play his left hand parts!
I usually split my concerts into 2 parts, with the second half made up of duets. Mostly I play with my pupils, but I do have some who like to play with their siblings or friends, which is a lovely idea. We even had a trio last time.

Thanks for your advice, Sue and Jenny - much appreciated!