The Importance of Recitals!

Recital Reverie

Sweaty palms, heart racing. Parents in the crowd of a million eyes, zeroed in on you. You’re up! Your feet are heavy, as you walk on stage where the concert grand piano is proudly displayed. Your throat is suddenly dry, as you approach the microphone to announce your piece. If you grew up taking piano lessons, this may have caused a flashback to the horrors of the dreaded piano recital. But wait…the audience gives you their energy and cheers you on with applause. You have the confidence to start! You get through your piece, dynamics in all the right places! You are beaming and so proud that you go through it. Sure, there was a slip up but you covered it nicely and continued on - no one noticed!!! Your parents give you a standing ovation, and the flash from their camera is endless. Pure Joy!

The Power of Performing

The lessons learned from preparing for an upcoming recital are invaluable life skills. It takes dedication, diligence, drive, and time management to prepare for an upcoming performance. Performing gives one a sense of accomplishment, provides a boost of confidence and is one of the most rewarding experiences, having conquered any fears in front of a live audience. Leading up to recital season, much thought is put into selecting and preparing the piece. At Mississauga School of Music, our music teachers work closely with the student to hand pick a piece, that can be polished off in time for one of our biannual recitals.

The next steps require commitment from the student to take initiative: attend all their music lessons, and follow and implement the instructions from their music teacher. Students are encouraged to allocate time to practice daily, so they will continue to fine tune the little details, before meeting with their teacher for their weekly music lesson. Having completed their homework for the week, students can then apply additional direction from their music teacher, polishing off their piece. When possible students will be encouraged to recite the piece, in time for the recital.

On the day of the recital, as stressful as it may seem for the students, one gains valuable lessons on presence, public speaking, and coping in a stressful situation. Students have a boost of self-confidence from the support of their family in the audience, the postive energy and encouragement from the audience’s applause and cheers, and a sense of recognition and achievement from having overcome their stress and nerves. All their hard work, efforts, and talent are finally showcased. In some circumstances if the student makes an error in the piece, they will learn to recover and continue on. This prepares them for future endeavors in public speaking, such as leading presentations or conferences, as they will learn to mitigate sudden challenges, overcome their nerves and have added experience speaking and performing in front of a live audience. Recitals are also a great place for students to learn from their peers. They can see how their peers handle different situations, carry through their performances, and have exposure to different interpretations of the music.