Tips for an Engaging Recital - Idea Share #19

We hear from so many teacher friends that our ComposeCreate® webinars give our community a motivational boost. The reason is simple – everyone gets to share their creative ideas with each other in our Idea Shares! Even though we connect through a chat forum as opposed to face-to-face, we still laugh, smile, and feel uplifted by hearing others’ experiences and ideas. We hope you enjoy the creative ideas gleaned from Idea Share 19: Tips for an engaging recital!

And just like Idea Share 18, we’re listing all the fabulous ideas for engaging piano recitals right in this blog post – no PDF download necessary.

But first, in case you missed it, here’s what was released at 2025’s holiday webinar, “From Warm to Wintry: New 2025 Holiday Music Unwrapped!”

Wendy Stevens released seven – well, actually eight! – new pieces, plus bonus artwork for your studio, in the Holiday Music Bundle 2025. There’s truly something for everyone (early beginners too!) in this bundle.
He is Born! with audience participation is a new intermediate piece that is perfect for engaging piano recitals.
Two exciting new Little Fuzzies pieces – Both for your early elementary and your elementary students!
Sizzlin’ Sunny Sleigh Ride is a jazzy piece that comes with TWO versions with glissandos – early intermediate and intermediate.

Read in-depth about all the surprising new pieces here!

Sizzlin Sunny Sleigh Ride by Wendy Stevens is a jazzy Jingle Bells arrangement with new lyrics, a fun glissando, and more! ComposeCreate.com

He is Born With Audience Participation arranged by Wendy Stevens | ComposeCreate.com

Candy Cabin and Festive Delivery Bundle by Wendy Stevens | ComposeCreate.com

We asked teachers, “What are your tips for an engaging recital?” This question was on the top of everyone’s minds, and boy, did we get excellent answers!

Featured Engaging Piano Recital Ideas

If you only have a New York minute to read today, here are a few featured tips from teachers:

Shelley: I try to include fun things in my printed program – sometimes lyrics, music-related puzzles for younger ones, musical cartoons/memes, “Fun Facts” about my studio, etc.
Andrew: Last summer I chose the recital program order like this: I had a beach ball with numbers on it that corresponded with the numbers we used to number students. We “gently tossed” the beach ball around the church and whatever number the person was touching when they caught it, that student’s number would perform.
Melissa: We have medley trivia. I’ve had students through the years who like putting together medleys for the Christmas recital, and pop music in the spring. We put them all together and they write down what the tunes are and then we check answers together. At Christmas, we try to make them a little sneaky and may only quote a measure or two and have had up to 15-20 tunes in a medley!
Robin: When students introduce each other using pre-written blurbs, the audience LOVES it.
Kelli: We have holiday bingo cards and play during the recital. I’ve also done a trivia where the questions were asked between each performer, and we gave little prizes for correct answers.
Angela: One time we had a mystery special number not titled on the program, but I had a flautist friend play a duet with me (A medley from “How to Train your Dragon”). Anyone who thought they knew what it was called could put their name and their guess into a drawing for free movie tickets!

Everyone’s Engaging Recital Tips:

Angela: I always do things that are unexpected. I have little contests before the recital starts, and we always have the “Sleigh Ride” duet with me and either an advanced student or other teacher. The kids all ring jingle bells, my husband snaps his belt (for the whip), wooden block for the horse’s “clip clop” and the horsey sound at the end. The audience always loves it.
Helen: Using Compliment cards!!!
Adrienne: I have so few students that we only do a virtual recital. Everyone records their pieces at home on their own pianos, and I edit it together into one video. Then I share it on YouTube as an unlisted video.
Liana: One year most of my students played pop, movie themes, Disney, etc. The program had student names but no titles. The audience had to guess the names of the songs. And I gave prizes!
Barbara: For one recital I had the name of each piece to be performed on the bottom of a piece of wrapped candy. I put them in a box and went around to audience members and had them choose a piece of candy. They said the title of the piece, and that’s who played next!
Pamela: I have a group of three adults who decided that they’ll surprise everyone on the Autumn recital. They’re playing a circus clown piece, so they’ll pop up onstage wearing red noses, and play the piece as a round robin, sliding on and off the bench phrase by phrase. They are cracking up while they prepare! At the end, we’ll toss red noses into the audience for all to enjoy. Silly things like this are always a hit, and I love that this happened organically.
Mindy: I let my senior, if I have one, choose the theme, i.e. classical, jazz, ragtime, popular pieces. Then every student has to play a piece in this genre. I did a Beatles theme (which was hard for young students) and everyone wore black pants or skirt and white shirt and black tie. This of course was during the spring! Lots of fun!
Christina: For program order, I break it up in multiple ways while building toward the end – mix up ages, levels, styles, tempos, etc. for variety, while saving a few big pieces by more advanced students at the end.
Keera: For my recital I keep it very informal. We have a potluck after.
Robin: For how to order your students in a recital: I have a 15 year old student who wanted to be first since he was 5. He once played Minuet in G on a kitty piano that played “meow meow” on pitch! Now he has gotten several 1st places in Class A contests for a few years, and he starts us with a bang for sure. When a little one has a really fun song, we’ll end with that, or sometimes we’ll end a Christmas recital with audience singing along. So fun!
Janelle: I mix my students up, too. Vary tempos and keys and styles. And I keep it short enough that I do NOT have an intermission. Some families will leave (if there is an intermission) and the 2nd half students get less of an audience. I time the pieces ahead and tell them how long the program will last. They appreciate it.
Angela: For a pre-game show, I have put students faces on elf body clipart, or guess the number of candies in a jar, stuff like that.
Elaine: To acquaint students with accompanying, I invited the audience to sing the Christmas song…they were a little leery but soon participated.
Sheri: Having a recital divided into theme sections and placing students by levels within the section has worked for me.
Pamela: I always print lyrics. Many students like to sing along, but it isn’t always clear. I don’t want the audience to miss out on those adorable lyrics!
Kelli: For my spring recital, I have students write their own program notes. Whether it’s a composer bio, or a “why I chose to play this piece” or what I like about this piece, etc. and I include that in the program.
Janelle: I LOVE ending our recitals with a student/teacher duet! (Editor’s Note: Here’s a link to ComposeCreate® duets!)
Robin: I always have a blurb about the students, which may include a question they answer. The audience gets a sense of who they are, and they listen better–and the compliment cards are a HUGE HIT!
Nancy: My friend Joanie has always ended her recitals with a duet played by her and a duet partner. I’m sharing a recital with her this year, and we’ll play a duet together with a medley of songs (that she arranged!) from a popular movie. It’s so much fun for us, and engaging for the audience!
Mindy: I’ve also done the duet at the end of my recitals with a fellow pianist in the community. Very fun way to end!
Elaine: Last Christmas I had all the parents who played different instruments play along with their child.
Karen: I have a very informal Christmas recital in small groups with 4 students and families in my living room, followed by treats.
Cheryl: Parents accompanying their own kids if they have piano experience or duets with friends. It seems that families really appreciate anything. And treats afterwards are a must!
Sheri: One recital I did had a “Name That Tune” section where the student played a few notes for the audience to guess and once it was identified, they performed. The audience enjoyed it!
Mary: In November, we have a Monster Mash recital where students, if they want to, can wear their Halloween costumes. I also wear a costume as well. I will mix up the types of performances so that they aren’t the same type of genre. The compliment cards at the end are always a hit! Sometimes a guest performance from a parent/student or with myself are welcome.
Kris: I have several parents who play piano and the younger students are so proud to be able to play a duet with mom or dad.
Edna: I’m not actually doing recitals with my current batch of students (all online), but past spring recitals always included a multi-level piece based on a famous piece of music. I arranged it to fit the group and often incorporated some non-keyboard instruments as well.
Maya: I have an all online studio too. We do “open mic” every 2 months using the platform RockOutLoud. They love it – short, sweet, and low pressure!
Francee: Our recitals are dual-themed with a creative title (some examples are Beethoven on Safari, Christmas in the Tropics, For King and Country, Fiesta–Songs of Celebration). The students can dress up to match the themes. The newest student kicks off the recital with Westminster Chimes and then there is a mix of skill level as we work through the first theme and then we transition into the second theme. Each family provides a themed food item for the reception. There are games after the food, a photo booth, an art gallery, prizes, etc. Essentially, the recital is a concert and a party all rolled into one.
Judy: I have group lessons before each recital where we practice performance techniques. We practice introducing oneself and piece, setting up (adjusting bench), and then the magic moment and a correct bow. That way it relieves many performance nerves.
Karol: I love using ComposeCreate® music for special recitals – the students feel so special when they get to play pieces that sound big but are easily accessible to them. Thank you so much for your creativity!
Judith: Audience participation – compliment cards! (Editor’s Note: The Student Solutions Catalog has a complete section with Audience Participation recital pieces, and more! Download it for free here.)
Nancy: I bought dollar store items and placed them on a table in the next room. After the concert each child would reach into a paper bag, pull out a number and that formed the order for them to choose a present from the table in the next room. The prizes were not wrapped so each child could see what they wanted.
Elaine: I use a grand piano, a keyboard, and I also own a toy piano… I have used all three in a recital.
Stephani: We use comment cards at the Spring Recital, and it’s a great way to engage the audience. At Christmas, we like to do something like a Hot Cocoa bar that people can enjoy before/during.
Elaine: Themed recitals are fun… This spring, my theme is “A Little Night Music” and the pieces will start with twilight and end with dawn.
Laura: At the holiday recital, I have the students lead the carol sing. They learn a piece for us to listen to them perform, and they learn a piece for the audience to sing along complete with an intro.
Kathleen: One time when I had a lot of students playing classical and romantic era pieces, I did a short intro about musical form ahead of time, and then had the audience listen and try to figure out what the form of the pieces was, i.e. ABA, Rondo, etc.
Kathleen: In my music studio, there was once a grandfather who played accordion, so he played the Secondo part of a fun duet with his granddaughter.
Lisa: I take pride in the beautiful recital templates for programs that I get from ComposeCreate®.
Andrew: A taco bar for studio events is always a hit!
Nancy: Instead of a printed recital program, I put all the compositions to be performed on slips of paper and put them in a hat or pretty container, then pass it around the audience (parents & friends). They would choose a selection from the hat, and the name of the music & the performer would be announced and that child would play next.

During the webinar, we ask teachers to answer a question that we think would benefit all piano teachers. After receiving answers from both webinar sessions, we compile them all into either a list (like in Idea Share 18 and this one, Idea Share 19) or, for the previous Idea Shares, free downloadable PDF so that you have access to ideas from the entire ComposeCreate® piano teaching community!

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