Beyond the music: Five ways to showcase student impact (and advocate for your program) at your concerts
As music teachers, we spend countless hours helping students grow as musicians, collaborators, and performers. The process of getting ready for concerts is no easy task. There’s so much going into it, and for many of us, our concerts are the perfect opportunity for audience members to see the musical growth and development of our students. Of course, there’s nothing wrong with this. This is how most concerts and other performances have been done for as long I can remember.
And yet, in a time when it seems we need to advocate for our programs, our jobs, and for the value of music education in general…..we need to do more. We must do more to outwardly showcase the many other benefits of music education—to parents, teachers, administrators, school board members and others of the community. We need to be better at showcasing the things that we see every day in our classes and ensembles, the wonderful, non-musical gains that our students are experiencing as a result of their time in music. We need to toot our own horns more.
For ensembles and other performance-based classes, this can be as simple as re-framing our already-prepped performances through the student lens—and sharing that with the world. Think of it as doing the same concert with the same repertoire you’ve already worked on for months, but presenting everything through the student-centered (and student showcased) lens. Of course, if you have time, you can go beyond that in your rehearsal time leading up to the concert. Either way, it’s all moving the needle when it comes to advocacy.
Making your concerts more student-centered for the audience doesn’t mean sacrificing musical rigor or tradition—it means highlighting student voices, stories, and creativity in ways that draw the audience into the "why" and the “how” behind the performance. Here are five ways to make that happen:
Let students speak
Before each piece, invite a student to share a brief introduction. This could be:
Why the class chose the piece,
What it meant to them during rehearsals,
A fun behind-the-scenes moment,
Something to listen for during the performance.
This humanizes the experience and gives families a glimpse into the process—not just the product.
Incorporate Student Compositions or Arrangements
Student creativity doesn’t have to stop at interpretation. If you have time leading up to the performance, consider featuring a student-composed piece (it doesn’t have to be long or fancy!) or even an improvisational segment. When students have a hand in creating the music, they’re more invested—and the audience feels that energy.
Bonus: Program notes written by the student composer add another layer of connection.
Feature Small Groups and Soloists
Ensemble concerts don’t have to be all full-ensemble, all the time. Carve out space in the program for chamber groups, duets, or solos. These smaller moments give individual students a spotlight and show the audience the depth of talent in the room.
Let students form their own groups (they can even name their group), pick their own pieces, and even introduce them on stage. In one school where I was teaching 6th grade band and jazz band, a small group of students asked me if they could come in during recess and just “rock out” while I was eating lunch, grading and answering emails. Seeing as it wouldn’t do any harm, I agreed to it. Within weeks, they quickly became a group of eight students who brought their own music, created their own songs, and even wrote storylines behind some of their pieces. They ran everything themselves. Later in the year, at our spring concert, they showcased some of their work (they even shared the story of how they got the band together and how they ran their rehearsals). It was pretty great to see. And the audience loved it.
Tell the story of the journey
A concert is the finale, but the audience rarely sees what led up to it. Use projected visuals, a short video, or a printed program insert to share. Possible things to add could be:
Photos or clips from rehearsals,
Student reflections,
Challenges students overcame,
How students connected to the repertoire.
