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Growing

Your Audience

- 3. PROGRAMMING -

Once you get them to a concert you want them to come back and bring someone else. During the summer
our concerts are based on themes. This years themes included Circus Days, Going Places, British Invasion,
And Freedom for All, On Broadway, and Planes, Trains and Automobiles. We ask the audience to submit
theme ideas. They submit ideas to me as I walk through the audience, through our website, or send me or
band members an email. Some of the best concert ideas have come from our audience members.

As I select music for each concert I strive to make it audience friendly. “Audience friendly” doesn’t mean
watering down your program to the lowest denominator, actually it is quite the opposite. Good music,
performed well, will be recognized by the audience and they will return. Those charged with selecting music
have a responsibility to their band and audience to seek out the best compositions and arrangements that fit
their band’s ability level. Throughout the past one hundred plus years some of the greatest music has been
written for the wind band. We owe it to our band and our audience to play good music well.

The programme should also balance something to help the

band grow and something the audience recognizes - leave

them singing a tune from your concert!

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