Student Recital Guidelines

All recital dates must be approved by the major teacher and the director of the concert office. The major teacher must attend the publicly-scheduled recital.

Recitals must take place during term – by December 14, 2012 in the first semester and April 27, 2013 in the second semester. Conflicts with a concert directed by or featuring a School of Music faculty member or any other major event sponsored by the School of Music are to be avoided and will be permitted only at the discretion of the diretor of the concert office.

Degree Recitals are given by each M.M., internal M.M.A., and Certificate student in the final year of residency. Students in the 2-year MMA program and A.D. candidates present a degree recital in each year of residency. Only one recital per year by pianists in the A.D. program (usually the solo recital program, as opposed to the concerto or chamber music program) may be regarded as a degree recital.

Required recitals are recitals required by your department that are NOT your degree recital.

Informal recitals are recitals that are not required by your department.

Morse Recital Hall in Sprague Memorial Hall is the primary venue for YSM degree recitals. It is available for School use seven days a week during term.

Sudler Recital Hall (in William L. Harkness Hall) is available to the School of Music for recitals on Monday and Thursday evenings, and Saturday afternoons and evenings.Marquand Chapel (at the Divinity School) is used primarily for ISM vocal and conducting recitals.

Organ and choral conducting recitals may take place in Woolsey Hall, Dwight and Battell Chapels, and other campus and community sites.

Sprague and Sudler halls are booked online or through Tara Deming, Operations Manager. The other venues are scheduled directly by students or their major teachers.

Degree recitals
Sudler Recital Hall is available Mondays, Thursdays, and Saturdays at the following standard recital times:
a. Mondays 8 pm
b. Thursdays 5 pm and 8 pm
c. Saturdays 2 pm, 5 pm, and 8 pm

Sprague Hall is available 7 days a week during term. Standard recital times are 2 pm, 5 pm, and 8 pm.

Required recitals
Required recitals may not take place in the evenings or after April 1. Due to the opera production schedule, opera students may schedule required recitals afternoons until April 27, 2013 in Sudler Hall.

Informal recitals
The guidelines for scheduling these recitals are the same as those governing required recitals; however, required and degree recitals have scheduling priority over informal recitals. The concert office reserves the right to deny booking an informal recital until most or all degree and required recitals have been scheduled, and may further limit informal recitals depending on the availability of concert staff and the congestion of the concert calendar.

To determine your recital date, view the Concert Hall Schedule: music.yale.edu/services. Log in as "student" for both the account name and password. You will be able to see hall schedules for Sudler, Sprague, and Woolsey Halls, and there are notes regarding events in other venues. Note events scheduled in all halls to prevent conflicts.

Reserve your Recital Date

Piano accompanists are made available to YSM students for degree recitals and, when possible, for non-degree recitals performed at Yale. Because the number of accompanists is limited, it is important to make arrangements as early as possible, and to limit the amount of time each accompanist spends on individual recitals. All requests for piano accompanists for degree recitals must be submitted to Elizabeth Parisot by October 5. If you have already made arrangements with a YSM pianist, Mrs. Parisot must be notified so that your pianist can be officially assigned to your recital. If you have no preference, you must notify Mrs. Parisot so that she may assign an appropriate accompanist.

If notification is not received by October 5, it will be assumed that you have already made other arrangements. Assignments for non-degree recitals will be made after October 5.

The accompanist's duties are listed below. Remember that these are the maximum limits expected of the accompanist and that most recitals should require fewer hours. All music should be given to the accompanist at the earliest possible opportunity. Accompanist duties are:

• 15 hours of rehearsal
• 1 or 2 master classes
• 3 or 4 lessons
• Any time required to learn the music

1. When the reservation has been confirmed by the Operations Office, fill out and sign a and submit it to Tara Deming, the operations manager. If the Concert Office does not approve the contract, you will be notified.
   
   Download Recital Contract  
   
2. You must return a copy of the contract, signed by your major teacher and your accompanist (if applicable), to the concert office within 14 days of reserving your date or the date may be given to another student. Allowances will be made for students whose teachers are not available during this time, but you must let the Concert Office know if you require this extension.
3. Recitals will not appear on the school's concert calendar until a contract is approved. If the recital is to take place off campus, in one of the residential colleges, or in any other non-YSM or ISM venue (except for organists using Dwight or Battell Chapels), the recital form must be signed by an administrator of that facility.
4. All recitals, regardless of the venue or student's major, require the submission of a Student Recital Contract signed by the major teacher and accompanist (if applicable) and approved by the director of the concert office. A signed contract is necessary for a program to be produced and for a recital to be listed in the School's calendar of events and web site. Degree recital listings are also submitted to the Yale Bulletin and Calendar.

• You must indicate on the contract if your program requires the harpsichord, a sound system, an ensemble larger than seven, or any additional equipment besides pianos. If you do not have this information at the time you submit the contract, you must notify the operations office within three weeks of your recital date.
• AUDIO AND VIDEO: If your program requires audio playback, sound reinforcement, or image or video projection, contact Jack Vees as soon as you know what you will need. Jason will advise you if we have the equipment and personnel to provide the services you require. If you know you will need these services at the time you submit your recital contract, please note in the space provided.
• PIANOS AND HARPSICHORD: There are two Steinway D pianos in Sprague, and a harpsichord. The harpsichord is stored in a practice room in the basement. To use it, sign out a key, and arrange with the operations office to have the instrument moved to the stage. There is one piano in Sudler Hall, and no harpsichord.

The recital repertoire is at the discretion and approval of the major teacher. Solo literature is primary, and when repertoire requiring ensembles is programmed, small chamber groups are preferable. With the exception of conducting recitals, orchestras are not permitted on student recitals. Concertos are to be performed with piano reduction or small ensembles with one player per part. Any ensemble larger than six on a vocal or instrumental recital requires the approval of the Deputy Dean.

Degree and required recital programs are official documents that have formatting standards that must be followed. Therefore, the Concert Office must produce or at least approve the finished program before it is printed in quantity.

Submit Your Program

The Concert Office will not accept responsibility for proofreading errors on your part. 50 programs will be printed. If a student does not submit his/her program information to the Concert Office before the deadline, the Office cannot guarantee program services for that recital.

Late submissions are subject to the following policies:

10 business days before recital: no penalty
6-9 business days before recital: $50 fine
1-5 business days before recital: $100 fine

Students should return to the Concert Office to proofread their programs at least one week in advance of the recital. The Concert Office will not accept responsibility for proofreading errors on your part. 50 programs will be printed.

Texts for singers' and choral conductors' degree recitals must be submitted in hardcopy to be photocopied no later than ten business days before the recital date.

Degree recitals may be streamed with written permission of both the student and the faculty studio teacher. Verbal permission cannot be accepted. Live Stream Authorization Forms must be submitted to the Concert & Media Office one week before the recital. If the faculty member is out of town, he or she may send an email to Carol Jackson.

Degree recitals with ensembles of more than six players may only be streamed with written permission of the faculty member and the Dean or Deputy Dean.

Only recitals that are being recorded by the Fred Plaut Recording Studio may be streamed. This includes concerts in Morse Recital Hall (high-definition video streaming) and Sudler Hall (audio streaming).

Degree recitals are streamed at a private URL that students may distribute to friends, family, and colleagues. Please contact the Concert Office if you need the web address.

Yale School of Music students must sign an Unlimited Media Release at the beginning of the academic year, permitting YSM to stream any performances.

Any performers who are not YSM students must sign a Limited Media Release, granting permission to stream that performance. Students are responsible for collecting signed forms from these performers and giving them to the Concert & Media Office.

Download Release Forms

The hall is reserved for you one hour before your start time for rehearsal, warm-up, and recording sound check. You are expected to clear the stage 15 minutes prior to start time.

One stage manager will be provided for recitals in Sprague and Sudler. The stage manager has been authorized by the Concert Office to run all technical aspects of the concert including start time, clearing the stage of performers before the opening of the hall, etc. Do not ask stage managers to serve as page-turners.

Changing the status of a recital (for example, from Degree to Required) must be requested in writing, and requires the approval of the student's teacher and the director of the concert office. If a recital is no longer a degree recital, it may be cancelled or rescheduled to comply with the scheduling policies stated above.

The School's recording studio will record all degree recitals in Sprague and Sudler Halls. The recitalist receives one copy of the CD; additional copies are $10 each.

A student may use a compact system, such as a minidisc recorder or portable cassette recorder to record an informal or required recital.

No outside recording engineers may record in Sprague, but a student may use a compact system to make audition recordings. Due to the heavy use of Sprague Hall, students may book no more than one of these sessions each semester. The sessions are limited to three hours, may not be booked earlier than a week in advance, and may be preempted by rehearsals for degree or faculty concerts, at the discretion of the Director of the Concert Office.

Students may be excused from Philharmonia and Chamber Music rehearsals on the day of their degree or required recitals with the permission of the conductor or faculty coach. Accompanists and other performers on recitals will not be excused from these rehearsals.

Cancellation or postponement of a recital after approval of the recital contract requires submission of a Recital Cancellation Form, signed by the deputy dean, major teacher, and director of the concert office. Unless a doctor's note is submitted with this form, the student will be subject to a $500 fine. Rescheduling will not occur until the Cancellation Form is submitted and, if applicable, payment is made.

Trading of dates is allowed only with permission of the major teacher(s), the director of the concert office, and the deputy dean, and must be requested in writing.

All requests for exceptions to these regulations must be submitted in writing to the director of the concert office and approved by the Performance Committee.

All degree recitals will be evaluated by the student's primary teacher and one other faculty member of the School of Music.

It is the responsibility of the student's primary teacher to arrange for the evaluation committee, and to ensure its presence at the recital. The members of the evaluation committee must submit written evaluations of the recital. A recital will not be considered successfully completed until all evaluations have been received.

The Registrar's Office keeps recital reports on file for the academic year, after which they are added to the student's permanent files. Students may read and copy their recital reports.

Receptions for Sudler Hall recitals will be permitted in the side room (beyond the glass doors, on the College Street side of the building). Recitalists will be responsible for cleaning the room afterwards and removing all trash from the building.

There are no receptions permitted in Sprague Hall.

The Lounge at 320 Temple Street is available for receptions and may be scheduled with the Operations Office.

Often, students would like the opportunity to perform a recital program he or she is preparing for a competition or an out-of-town venue. This can be booked under the following conditions:

1. It shall be closed event, not open to the public. In Sprague, the front doors to the building and the hall shall remain locked. The audience of friends, colleagues, and faculty will enter from the performers' entrance on Wall Street.
2. No staff will be assigned to the run-through.
3. The student's teacher must be in attendance.
4. No rehearsal time will be provided.