Holiday Concerts

I recently attended my younger sisters high school holiday concert. The band was lovely, the chorus sang, it was super lame. There was also some totally unnecessary behavior going on. It's a high school band/chorus concert, not a Jbeebz concert people. After witnessing such behavior I have created a guide of how to properly act at a high school concert, so everyone is clear on the appropriate way to behave.

1. Song Selection
This one is for you Mr. High School Music Director. I know you think you're awesome and you're conducting the symphony or something, but you're not. You're actually working in a public high school. It's actually totally inappropriate to feature 4 highly religious songs at a public high school concert. Especially if no other religions were included. I don't want to hear Silent Night! Not everyone there believes Christ the Savior was born. Let's keep it PC people.

2. Teenagers in the Audience
It's cute that you have a crush on that tuba player, but don't scream his name after the jazz band plays. I think the whole audience agrees it was great, he did a great job etc. Screaming his name is embarrassing everyone honey. Especially you. And him. And us. Please don't. Just like tell him how awesome his hair looks after the concert's over or something.

3. Other people in the audience
Parents, I know those girls are annoying. I agree with you. See, I just told them to stop! DO NOT TAKE THEIR YELLING AS A CHALLENGE TO YELL LOUDER. Seriously, you're supposed to be the mature ones. If your child was embarrassed when that girl yelled he's 14000 times more embarrassed when you scream his name like you're fifteen and he's Edward Cullen. Also, saying things like "I can yell louder than those bitches" during the silent gaps - totally not cool. Let's act like the adults that we are.

4. Band/Chorus students
Let's dress the part guys. You're performing in front of people. Don't dress like you're homeless, or like you're a vampire or something like that. Find a subtle way to make a statement. I'm all for individuality, but look presentable too. No need to dress like you're working the nearest street corner after the show. At least I'm not horrified and offended by the girl who looks like a grandmother, I just think it's funny. If you're unsure always err on the side of too conservative, not too slutty/original/noticeable.

Also, to both students and teachers: lets think about instrument choice. Harps? Really? I've got a harp section in the post about the symphony that I'm still working on. You are like 100 miles away from the symphony. Let the jazz band and the wind ensemble play deck the halls and then let's be done. You're trying to be way fancier than you are, and it just looks kind of sad and makes me feel bad for you, and also makes it hard for me to look, because I get uncomfortable when people are trying to hard. I close my eyes during after school specials a lot too.

I hope everyone reads this post and reflects on it, so we can improve the quality of future Christmas concerts. As I am forced to go to them, I would really appreciate it.