UNCW Department of Music Concert Etiquette Guide
Here are some tips to ensure that you and everyone around you enjoys the concert you are attending.
1.About the recital halls
• Attending a recital is a little different than being in a classroom. Some of the same etiquette applies, but there
are other guidelines as well. Concert halls are acoustically designed to amplify the sound created on the stage.
For the audience, that means not only that you hear everything more clearly and fully, but that every sound
you make is louder than normal and will be disruptive for the performer and other members of the audience.
Everything is more amplified: footsteps, talking, etc.
2.When to arrive
• Arrive at the recital hall at least 10 minutes before the posted concert time. This will give you time to locate a
good seat and look over the program. If you need to get a ticket at the box office, have your UNCW student ID
ready and add at least another 5 minutes to your schedule.
• If you arrive after a performance has begun, the ushers will do their best to seat you during an appropriate
pause in the program. However, late seating is not always available at all performances. Please be on time.
3.When to leave
• Don’t leave in the middle of a performance: stay for the entire event. Leaving early is disruptive to the audience
and to the performers.
4.Sitting
• Please do not put your feet on the seats or the walkway wall in front of you.
5.Cell phones and computers
• No electronic devices of any kind should be in use during a performance. Turn off phones, put them away, and
do not use computers.
6.Food, drink, rest room breaks
• You may not take drinks or food inside the recital hall. You may leave drinks in the recital hall foyer.
• If you are hungry or thirsty, please have your snack or drink before the concert or during intermission.
• Please use the rest room before or after the concert, or during intermission.
7.Skateboards
• Skateboards are not allowed inside the recital hall. Leave them in the recital hall foyer or give to an usher.
8.Talking
• Do not talk during the music, as the sound (even whispering) is disruptive to everyone around you. Hold your
quiet comments until the musicians have left the stage (which can happen at breaks between sections of the
program, or at intermission or the end of the concert).
9.Applause
• Knowing when it is proper to applaud can be tricky. You should not applaud unless it is the final movement of
a work or the last song of a set. Holding your applause in a multi-movement work allows the performer to keep
the interpretive focus of the music intact until the entire work (or set of pieces) is completed.
• When the conductor drops his arms and turns around, it usually indicates that this is the end of a piece.
• Look at the printed concert program to see how the concert is structured (see sample). In Department of Music
programs, individual works have at least one entire line-space between them. Multi-movement works are indicated by several successive tempo indications underneath the title of a work or simply don’t have line-spaces
between the titles.
• In jazz performances, it is not unusual for the music to feature one or more improvised solos. It is appropriate
to applaud after a solo.
• If you are unsure when to clap, you can wait for the applause to start before you join in.
10. Sneezing and coughing
• If you feel the onset of a cold or allergies, please use a cough drop, but don’t unwrap any plastic-wrapped object (such as lozenges) during the music. The sound of this is disturbing to everyone around you.
• If you can’t suppress a cough, it is perfectly acceptable to excuse yourself from the hall until you feel better.
11.
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Getting your program stamped
Programs for students taking music classes are stamped by the ushers at the end of the performance.
If you leave early, your program will not be stamped.
If ushers ran out of programs, ask them to stamp your ticket stub and let your teacher know what happened.
12.Assistance
• If you have a question or need something, please don’t hesitate to ask the ushers or house manager.
UNCW Department of Music Concert Etiquette Guide
Not sure when to applaud? Here are some tips.
• Knowing when it is proper to applaud can be tricky. You should not applaud unless it is the final movement of
a work or the last song of a set. Holding your applause in a multi-movement work allows the performer to keep
the interpretive focus of the music intact until the entire work (or set of pieces) is completed.
• When the conductor drops his arms and turns around, it usually indicates that this is the end of a piece.
• Look at the printed concert program to see how the concert is structured (see sample). In Department of Music
programs, individual works have at least one entire line-space between them. Multi-movement works are indicated by several successive tempo indications underneath the title of a work or simply don’t have line-spaces
between the titles.
• In jazz performances, it is not unusual for the music to feature one or more improvised solos. It is appropriate
to applaud after a solo.
• If you are unsure when to clap, you can wait for the applause to start before you join in.
Sample from a department of Music program
no applause
Ojos Brujos
Un Dia de Noviembre
Berceuse
Leo Brouwer
(b. 1939)
applause!!!
no applause
Cello Suite No. 4 in E-flat Major
Prelude
Sarabande
Bourrées 1 & 2
Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)
applause!!!
no applause
Gymnopédie No. 1
Erik Satie
Gnossienne No. 1(1866-1925)
applause!!!
La Compagne
Francesco da Milano
(1497-1543)
applause!!!
Forlorn Hope Fancy
John Dowland (1563-1626)
applause!!!
no applause
applause!!!
Julia Florida
Agustín Barrios
Vals Op. 8, No. 3(1885-1944)
Una Limosna por el Amor de Dios