Parent: Hello. Hello! Why are you calling during my child's band concert?
Band Director: Hello. Hello? Why is your cell phone on during our band concert?
What would a concert be without parents, family, and friends - many of whom have no experience with concert etiquette?
With winter festivals and spring concerts filling your schedule, perhaps it's time to educate (or re-educate) your audience.
MENC suggests the following Top Ten Rules of Concert Etiquette as a blueprint for informing your audience.
- Refrain from talking.
This is the first and greatest rule. - Refrain from unwrapping noisy candy wrappers during the performance.
If the composer wanted to include crinkle paper noises in the music, he/she would have written it into the parts. - Turn off cell phones, pagers, and watch alarms.
While many phones and pagers now have very symphonic-like rings, they don't always fit into the musical score, nor do they provide pleasant sounds for your neighbors. - Do not wave to your child during the concert.
After all, they do know who you are already and they know you are there; you most likely brought them to the concert. - Do not take flash photography.
You don't want your child to walk off the edge of the stage from flash blindness, do you? - Please do no walk down the center aisle with your video camera.
Video cameras work just as well from the back of the auditorium (besides, the light is usually not good enough for videotaping anyway). - Do not leave as soon as your child's portion of the concert is over.
All of the students deserve a full audience for their performances. Remember, the next time your child's song could be last. - Applaud at appropriate times.
Some music has several sections. It's not over until all of the sections have been performed. - Do not leave the auditorium during the music.
Wait for a break in the concert to visit the restroom, unless you are carrying a screaming child, in which case you should leave quietly and quickly, PLEASE! - Go to the concert expecting the best.
You just might be surprised how good your student sounds when the other students join in.
For more on concert etiquette, visit:
- Becky Spray, March 4, 2009 © MENC: The National Association for Music Education