Concert and Contest Etiquette

The following guidelines on concert etiquette may be helpful for families and students new to the band program. Please observe these guidelines regardless of the concert venue. Your students deserve the same respect whether they are performing in a school cafeteria or auditorium or a world-class concert hall!

• Arrive at least five to ten minutes ahead of the scheduled concert time. This will give you time to find a good seat and look over the program in advance.
• Quiet conversations with companions or those seated nearby is appropriate, but as soon as the lights dim, all talking should stop.
• If you arrive after the concert begins, wait at the back of the hall until the music stops and the audience is applauding. Do not disturb other listeners by attempting to seat yourself while the music is being performed.
• Turn off or set to vibrate mode all cell phones, pagers, and watch alarms.
• Please refrain from flash photography while the music is being performed. This often blinds the musicians and causes them to lose their place in the music. Photographs before or after a selection has been performed is fine.
• Please hold off going through your purse, briefcase, backpack or other belongings until between pieces or during the intermission.
• Wear what is comfortable for you, but please keep the CISD dress code in mind.
• Be careful with wearing perfume.  Many people are allergic to strong scents.
• Unwrap candies and cough drops before the concert. If you have a sudden coughing attack during the concert, open the wrapper quickly.
• If you are bringing a child, please make sure he or she is ready for the experience. If your child begins to cry or misbehave, leave the hall immediately. For safety considerations, children under three years of age should really not be at these types of concerts. Young children's eardrums may not be fully developed, and an aggressive performance typical of our Coppell bands can damage an infant's hearing, scarring eardrums and preventing them from hearing certain tones later in life.
• Once the concert begins, please stay seated. The only exceptions to this are if you need to remove a restless or crying child or matters of an urgent health nature (impending sickness necessitating a trip to the restroom, continued coughing, or anything that might disturb others).
• If you are unsure when to applaud, wait for the conductor’s shoulders and baton to relax. Some classical pieces of music are broken down into parts called “movements.” In between these movements the music will stop for a few seconds. Do not applaud until the conductor has dropped his hands and has turned around to acknowledge the audience. If you are a new concert attendee, a good rule of thumb is to wait until others start clapping. Please note, when applause does begin at the end of a composition, you may hear other members of the audience shouting “Bravo!” or “Brava!” This is completely acceptable when it occurs after the completion of a performance, and simply means “Well done!” Audience members may also stand (as in a “standing ovation”) when a performance is particularly noteworthy.

These guidelines serve to make the concert experience more enjoyable for everyone and acknowledge the hard work and dedication of the performers. Just as important, concerts are recorded for submission to various contests. Your cooperation is needed to ensure we represent our bands with the best recordings we possibly can!

These rules MUST be adhered to even more stringently when a band from another school is performing. Coppell sometimes has the reputation as the Rich Snob music school, and we want to make sure there are no complaints to contest officials or Coppell ISD administration on the behavior of our audiences during another group's performance. We have had prior complaints on what can be perceived as rude behavior of Coppell audiences - such as talking outside the concert hall while another group performs. We would appreciate your cooperation.