Do Parents Know the Value of Playing at a Music Festival? 🎵 FREE DOWNLOAD

By and large, we as music educators do a phenomenal job educating our students, but I believe it’s also important to dedicate some time toward educating our parents about the value of music. Specifically, participating in a music festival.

After a recent band festival performance, I reflected on how the experience was so positive for myself and my students. But, do my students’ parents know this value? I’m not so sure it’s evident to them and it’s not their fault. This is an opportunity to tell them about the value of a quality festival experience.

There’s the panel of outstanding clinicians that listen to the ensembles and provide such great feedback to the students and directors. Depending on the festival, the band may also receive a clinic following their performance. There's also the opportunity to watch other bands perform before or after your group's performance. Finally, the audio commentary provided by the clinicians is an excellent, real-time critique of the band's performance that should be shared with the students. Consider listening to it together at the next rehearsal and have your students take notes.

As you know, these experiences are invaluable towards your growth as an educator and your student's musical development. But again, the parents might not realize this. So, I decided to write a letter to my parents explaining why we perform at festivals. Feel free to copy the letter and edit it for your next band festival.