Do you ever play a piece in your student recital yourself? I was thinking about doing this in order to show students and parents the possibilities of the piano, but I am not sure if it doesn’t look like I “need” an audience. Actually, my students could attend some of my own recitals if they want to hear me. What do you think?
Yes, I almost always play in my student recitals. This is mostly because I don’t enjoy performing, though, so I do it to let my students know that I’m willing to go through the same torture I put them through! 🙂 Actually, many of my students and I have experienced significant improvement in our performing abilities since I started holding regular group classes with informal performance settings several years ago. From my experience as both a student and a teacher, I would say that it is always a positive thing for the teacher to perform something in student recitals, even if it’s a duet or ensemble with a friend or advanced student.
Rather than it looking like you “need an audience” or appearing showy, I think performing for your studio families lets them see how much you love playing your instrument. You are sharing your music with them, and they love to hear it! Does anyone else have input into this question? Do you perform at your student recitals? Do you think a teacher performing at his/her students’ recital could be perceived negatively? How so?
Remember, if you have a question you’d like to contribute to next week’s Monday Mailbag, leave it in the comments below or send me an e-mail sometime this week with Monday Mailbag in the subject line!
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