Dear audience member,
First off, I'd like to say thank you for coming to the concert. It means a lot to the performers that you are here because you get to be part of our finished project and can experience it with us.
Now, there are a few things that go unsaid at concerts, and they're seen as common concert-going knowledge and etiquette. The biggest concert rule that is usually broken is turning off your cell phone. It's pretty obvious that this is a large distraction to the performers and the other audience members surrounding you. Though, you may think our faces are buried in our music for an hour to two hours, that isn't always true. We do look at the audience from time to time and we do see you using your phone and it kind of kills the mood. What's even worse is when your phone goes off. I'm sure everyone loves the song, "Wild Thing," but we really don't want to hear it while we're playing Brahms.
So, after our first movement, thank you for clapping but that isn't really necessary. I understand you think we did a great job, but the entire piece isn't finished. This is like if you're watching a movie at home on television and you clap whenever the movie goes to commercial break. On that note (hehe, music humor), I hope you get well soon! It seems like a plague of coughing sweeps through the entire audience in between each movement. It must be something in the air.
Finally, thank you for bringing your children to our concert! Exposing children to music at a young age helps make future musicians and appreciation for the arts! Music education is something that should be promoted, but not during our performance. There have been many instances where the parent points out the instruments as they have solos or there's a huge section feature. This is a wonderful way of helping children identify the different sounds of instruments but the other concert-goers usually don't like to hear the impromptu music lesson. Also, if you bring very young children to the performance, if they begin to cry, please take them outside the concert hall. Tchaikovsky didn't write a baby cry into his 1812 Overture.
Once again, thank you for your patronage and I hope you enjoy your next concert with some of these tips in mind!
Sincerely,
All Musicians Everywhere
