Why concert reviews?
Occasionally I get questions from parents or students about our concert review requirement in music classes. Why are students required to review concerts? Why two? Why college-level performers or above? Why not recordings; why do they have to be live performances? Why classical (art) music and not pop or folk music? Why do we have to spend so much money to attend an expensive concert?While we've refined some of these requirements (including introducing a form to complete rather than a two-page review to write), the basic requirement has remained the same for my entire 15-year tenure at TPA, including the three criteria for concerts that qualify for review.The 81 concerts on the Concert Review Agreement all meet the following criteria, qualifying them for review:
- Live
- Classical (art music, not jazz, pop, or folk)
- College-level performers or above
As regards the last question above, why do we have to spend so much money to attend an expensive concert, the answer is you don't. There are plenty of free concerts, but not at the end of the semester. Be sure to plan ahead so you don't get stuck choosing between going to an expensive concert or not meeting the requirement at all.For a rationale for the concert review requirement, click here.Some students tell me that the concert review requirement is one of their favorite parts of the class.Both concert reviews are due Friday, December 7, 2018 at 3pm.