Years ago, it was common for high school seniors to prepare a “senior recital” where seniors perform a number of pieces at their current level. These recitals were usually about 30-45 minutes long and seniors could invite family, friends, and fellow students to attend.
But these days, something that grand and time consuming rarely happens! Seniors are just too busy in their senior year of high school to prepare much more than just a normal recital piece.
But Wendy discovered that Mysti Dye has been doing a much more simple “Senior Piano Showcase” for her senior students for years now! This is a great way to showcase and affirm your seniors without requiring them to learn a bunch of new music or even be stressed about the event!
The “Senior Piano Showcase” is a feature you do during your normal spring recital, not in addition to it. The senior plays 3 pieces at the end of the program:
- The piece from their very first recital
- A new piece, or a duet
- Their favorite piece they ever played
The senior piano showcase is a celebration of the student, as opposed to an inflexible program with strict standards. Mysti encourages her seniors to make fun and personal decisions for their showcase that highlights their personalities. She utilizes a slide presentation of her seniors, and one student wanted her to include a tractor-riding picture, a picture featuring him wearing traditional lederhosen, and fun pictures with his sister/duet partner!
Keeping things simple might mean you allow your senior to play a “mash-up” of two of their favorite pieces, a fun outfit they wear, or performing their duet with a friend or sibling instead of you. Your studio will have its own flavor, just like your seniors, so choose to celebrate them however you see fit!
Here are a few more ideas that Mysti has incorporated over the years for adding special touches to her senior piano showcase:
- Create a few slides or a portion of the recital program with pictures, favorite memories, or fun facts about your graduating seniors
- A budget-friendly memento of some kind, like the acrylic piano figurine above, or a plaque, trophy, medal, etc.
- A framed picture containing a picture of the student around the age they began piano lessons, plus their graduating senior photo
- A graduation cord or lei to present at the end of the recital that they can choose to wear at graduation
There are as many fun ways to make your seniors feel special at their last piano recital as there are piano studios! Tell us what you think – have you done a version of a senior piano showcase? Do you have any ideas for simple ways to affirm your graduating seniors? Have you found a great “trophy” that was special for your studio? We would love to know – please share with us in the comments!
Read More:
How to Use Recital Compliment Cards
What Should I Say to Begin and End a Piano Recital? (complete with a sample speech!)
I’ve been doing “#1 play your first recital piece”, with my seniors for quite a few years! My senior this year didn’t start with me, but I know her first teacher (now lives out of town) so I contacted her to see what L’s first recital piece was. Not only did she know, but she had a video of the performance! So I plan to play that before she plays her piece (a duet with a friend). I see it as encouraging the students who are just starting, to see where they can go!
Wonderful ideas for a Senior’s Recital!
Once in my teaching career a Senior Student performed all her Recital songs from age 7 til 18…it was amazing!
Performed pieces in chronological order!
Love this! I do a senior medallion for my seniors at their last studio-wide recital, and I also offer them the option to organize and perform a small home senior recital with me and their friends and family in the comfort of their own home! Many of my students combine this with their grad party, so it ends up being a really sweet little event as long or short as they like, so there is less pressure on performing and more fun celebrating! Some of my students have chosen to perform their whole RCM program if desired, and other students who didn’t do RCM played their favorite video game or ragtime music or whatever they like. It’s so lovely seeing each of them enjoy the process so it’s fun and not another thing they have to do.
Loves these ideas! I wish I would have done this last year when I had 2 graduating seniors! Now I’ll have to wait a couple years until another student is a senior.
I give my graduating girls a framed print of a keyboard with roses lying across (painted by a local artist) and on the back have a typed up list of all their main pieces through the years and then at the bottom say thanks for the memories and give a word of blessing as they go forth. This year I have a male graduate so not sure what I will give him. I’ve also made a slide show of pictures through the years on my laptop that’s set up out in the refreshment area for viewing. Thanks for all the ideas you share!!
This year I have 8 seniors. We are starting the recital and also ending the recital with the eight seniors playing on four keyboards at the same time. We will be doubling the parts using two of Melody Bober’s piano quartets – “You’ll Be Back” and “Somewhere over the Rainbow.” They have had a blast practicing together and they’re so excited to perform at the May recital along with their senior solo.
Thank you all for commenting – wow! I love your ideas so much! Thank you for sharing.