Concert Etiquette

Requisite Knowledge Level for Understanding (* being beginner, ***** being expert): *

So you have your orchestra ticket(s) now, and you're getting ready for the concert.  What do you wear, do you need to get there early, and what should you expect when you get there?

As a general statement, before you make assumptions about the atmosphere of orchestra concerts (the usual criticisms being "it feels too stuffy" or "why should I have to dress differently than I normally do?"), let's go over some basic knowledge.  First of all, whether you realize it or not, every event and place you go every single day has its own atmosphere and expectations.  You instinctively know to wear and behave differently if you're going to church or to the movies, or out to dinner on a date versus to the grocery store.  Even when you go to a concert of your favourite pop artist, let's say U2, you probably dress and behave differently.  You might wear your favourite U2 shirt, make sure you have cash on hand to get some new fan merchandise, and if you know anyone who's anyone in the business, maybe even try to see if you can get some of your fan memorabilia signed.  Try going to a department store wearing flip flops, a baggy pair of shorts and a T-shirt (with a few holes if you've got one).  Then go back there another time dressed up in a shirt and tie, with a nice pair of shoes, and a nice coat.  You will likely notice that even there, where customer service is key and employees know to treat everyone with respect, people will treat you differently depending upon your attire.  What you wear matters there, and why should it be any different anywhere else?

What to wear:  Going to an orchestra concert for most is seen as a "night on the town" and is thus treated to something a little on the nicer side of things.  Many other attendees will be going out to dinner either before or afterwards, and I do not mean to a McDonald's.  As such, you will see most people dressed up a bit.  It is very common to see men in ties, women in blouses and skirts or pants and you will see some in the polo shirt and khaki pants combo as well. You will also see the occasional sport coat and dress and maybe a few people in jeans, but these will be less frequent, and often the dress/suit combination are worn by the older crowd while the jeans are worn by students.  I have not seen the concert hall that turned a patron away because of what they are wearing, so you could theoretically wear whatever your heart desires, but like any setting, if you are wearing something unusual, people might look at you, because that's what we people sometimes do (unless you're in NYC or LA, then you might just be ignored, because they do that there, too).

  --Note: Most orchestras have two types of performances, Classical and Pops.  Classical performances can be identified as anything where a composer's name (e.g. Beethoven), a specific piece (e.g. "Scheherazade") or a particular soloist is given top billing (e.g. Yo-Yo Ma).  Pops performances usually are billed with an obvious Broadway and/or Pop artist reference (e.g. "The Music of ABBA" or "Hairspray! in Concert").  For the purposes of this blog, I am obviously going to be focusing on the Classical performances, though of course attendance at both type of concerts is an enjoyable experience.  I mention this here since the atmosphere and attire for the Pops concerts might be slightly more laid back, though most would still probably approach it as a "night on the town" and dress up a bit.

When to arrive:  With a pop artist concert, e.g. U2, you can often show up a few minutes late and it's no big deal at all.  Half the time, they will have an opening act of someone you barely know anyway so you're not phased that you've missed half of their set, because you want to hear the main event a little later.  This is NOT how you want to treat an orchestra concert.  Admittedly, the first piece on the program probably won't be the "main event", the piece that people have really come to see (unless the program is something like Mahler's 3rd symphony, or another piece that's so long that the entire program is just that one piece), it will likely be an overture or another shorter piece of some sort.  But even for this piece the audience will still be eagerly attentive for its performance.  Another issue with arriving late is that the doors will probably be held during the pieces, and you will likely not be able to get in until the end of the piece/movement.  There are moments to just about every piece of classical music where it is incredibly quiet and the orchestra is playing very softly, even to the point where there are actually only a few musicians on stage actually playing.  During these instances, any and all extraneous noise, from a cough to a door opening are immediately apparent, and thus entering the hall at this time is held as it may disrupt the performance, unlike a performance of a pop artist where the speakers are loud enough that you might not even be able to successfully talk to your neighbour much less bother the other attendees.  I would advise showing up early, maybe 15-25 minutes, especially if you've never been there before or have to pick up your tickets at Will Call (usually located near the Box Office, where you can have your tickets held for you for the night of the concert if you're worried you'll misplace them).  This also gives you time to find your seat and maybe use the facilities if you have to before the performance begins.  Also this helps to make sure you've had plenty of time to find a place to park.  Usually there are garages nearby where you can park, street parking if you wish, or most performance venues do usually have a valet parking service if you'd like to use it (usually around $10 - $15, and might just impress your date).

When/How to Clap:  This may seem absurd to you, but if you've never been to a classical performance before, there are some traditions or practices that are observed, and they may appear odd to you.  For one, just because the musicians finish playing something, and even put down their instruments, does not mean that people will start applauding.  This is where your program comes in handy (they will have these at the entrances to the concert hall, probably distributed by ushers, and, unless you know everything there is to know about this concert and these composers, performers and pieces, I would recommend taking one).  You will see pieces listed, in all probability, something like this list below (e.g. an all-Beethoven program), and they may or may not use Roman numerals indicating movements (so I've done one with and one without).  In the below program, there are a number of different instances where one might applaud, and at least 3 different "endings" of which to be aware, the end of a movement (implied), the end of a movement (stop), and the full end of the piece.

Sample Program:

     Egmont Overture, Op. 84

     Piano Concerto No. 4 in G Major, Op. 58  - Pianist:  Jean-Yves Thibaudet
          I.  Allegro moderato
          II.  Andante con moto
          III. Rondo, vivace

     Intermission

     Symphony No. 5 in C Minor, Op. 67
          Allegro con brio
          Andante con moto
          Scherzo.  Allegro -attacca-
          Allegro

Example Beethoven Concert Progression:  Firstly, in the USA, the orchestra will probably be already on stage, maybe warming up, maybe just sitting there politely, waiting (in Europe, et al, sometimes the traditions vary, but I live in the USA, so this is how I will write things).  What happens next is that all the musicians will all, by a somewhat unspoken cue, put down their instruments and sort of come to "attention".  The principal first violinist, or Concertmaster/mistress, as he/she is known, will come on stage and bow.  It is polite to applaud for him/her.  The orchestra will then tune, led by the concertmaster/mistress and the principal oboist, who gives the tuning note.  When that is done, the concertmaster/mistress also sits down and they will get quiet again.  The next person to come out will be the conductor, and it is polite to applaud shortly for him/her as well.  The orchestra will then perform the first piece, the Egmont Overture, they will finish, the musicians will put down their instruments and the audience will all applaud as the conductor turns around, takes a bow or two and then walks back off of the stage.  There, that's easy enough to understand, and makes sense.

Here, though, is where it starts getting odd.  There will likely be a short pause after that piece and before the concerto.  The next person to walk on the stage will usually be the soloist (here:  Jean-Yves Thibaudet) followed closely by the conductor who will stand slightly back while the soloist bows a few times for the audience.  It is again customary to applaud for the soloist, and usually a large chunk of the audience is here specifically to see this piece and/or performer, so he/she will usually get a slightly longer applause.  The soloist will sit down at the piano (or pick up his/her instrument in the case of a violin concerto, etc...) and they will begin the piece.  Then the first movement will end.  There will be usually some shuffling of papers, the orchestra might turn the page of their sheet music, the conductor will look around at his musicians, they'll all get ready again, and then they'll start the second movement.  And probably nobody clapped at all.  This is because it is customary to view each piece as a complete work of art, that is, one cannot appreciate and applaud this work until each movement has been completed and thus the full musical statement is made.  So the second movement will finish, no one applauds, and then they move onto the third.

When this movement ends, however, the applause will break out usually in earnest.  A concerto is a showpiece for a solo musician, and usually involves pretty impressive displays of technique as well as expressive, emotive sections.  Thus, the audience will often applaud greatly for this musician.  It is customary to applaud such that the soloist can go off the stage, hear that you have continued to applaud and show your appreciation, and then come back on the stage to once again acknowledge you before going offstage again.  Now, that is all you need to do to "fit in" with the rest of the crowd, and feel like you were doing what everyone else is doing.  However, if this particular performer astounds and impresses you so, and so with many others in attendance, the soloist may go off and on another few more times while you enthusiastically applaud, standing up to further indicate your enjoyment, and possibly whistle and/or shout "Bravo!" ("Brava!" possibly, if the soloist is female), which are quite acceptable methods of expressing adulation.  If the soloist is then so inclined, he/she may then perform for you an "encore", an additional piece not listed in the program.  These will often not include the orchestra (though not necessarily) and instead be selected from amongst the repertoire written for this instrument solo, sometimes chosen to emphasize just how good the performer's technique is for your pleasure, though just as often to further showcase their emotive ability on the instrument.  Depending on the performer's willingness to pull pieces out of thin air and the enthusiasm of the attendees, this can theoretically go on indefinitely, though it is extremely rare to see any more than 1 or 2 encores, and I personally have never seen more than 3.  It is also possible that, no matter how enthusiastically you applaud, the soloist simply does not wish to, or has nothing prepared, and so will not perform an encore, but they usually have one ready to go in case it is needed.

There are exceptions to the above progression, but usually it will occur as I have just laid out.  An example might be if the first movement of this piece showcases a technique so virtuosic that they cannot contain themselves, the audience might break out into applause anyway following its conclusion.  There are a few locations, cities and orchestras that have accepted the practice, too, where there is always polite applause after each movement, in which case you should feel free to join in, though it will probably abate quickly.  There is the possibility that the orchestra might also tune again before the concerto.  This is much more likely to happen if the soloist is string or wind instrument, and less likely if it is a pianist.  Once all the applause has subsided and the soloist is firmly off the stage followed by the conductor (who usually remains kind of secondary to the soloist, though will probably bow a few times as well), the musicians of the orchestra will likely get up and mill about which is when the audience will also stand up and stretch their legs.

This is the "Intermission".  It usually lasts about 20 minutes during which time you will most likely visit the facilities, possibly the bar to purchase a drink, maybe the gift shop, and possibly stopping by a table which is usually set up with CDs of the soloist to purchase, who might also come out to autograph them.  Usually drinks besides bottled water are not allowed back into the hall as they are noisy (e.g. cubes of ice rattling around) and, as stated above, can be disruptive to the performance experience.  Usually any food available is limited to candy bars or cookies, a form of quick snack and again are not usually allowed back into the hall.

You will all retake you seats, the performers will come to attention again, the orchestra will possibly tune again, and then the conductor will again take the stage to another quick smattering of applause.  Then begins the other main piece on the program, here Beethoven's 5th symphony.  As with the concerto above, it is common to not applaud between movements, and, without the aid of a particular soloist up front with dazzling virtuosity, it is even less likely for enthusiastic applause to erupt spontaneously between movements.

Here I would like to take a moment to mention movements.  These are different sections of the piece as a whole, and are usually indicated with either Roman numbers (I - IV being common for symphonies, I - III for concerti) or by listing each movement on a separate line (both illustrated in the example above).  Most of the time, there will be a break and a short silence between movements.  This is, however, not always the case.  In this example, Beethoven's 5th symphony, the third movement goes right into the 4th movement with no pause in between.  This is the "implied" movement ending that I mentioned above.  The movement has concluded and the new one has started, but you may not be certain of it because the musicians did not pause.  The program may indicate "attacca" as I have done above, indicating that the piece goes directly on from one movement to the next, but it may not (often only included in the program if the composer him/herself wrote "attacca" into the score of the piece).  If the movements are separated by Roman numerals it is less likely that they will be performed continuously, but this is not a hard and fast rule.

The reason that this can be problematic is that if you are not familiar with this piece of music, you might not know when it ends!  Given the general applause guidelines given above then, they might reach the end of the piece and you would just sit there waiting for the next movement while the orchestra is wondering why you're not applauding.  The easiest way to combat this is two things:  A) make sure you know when each successive movement starts regardless of any break in the piece or B) and more easily, watch everyone else.  There will always be somebody there who knows this piece well enough to know when to and when not to clap, so when unsure, you can always hesitate for a second before enthusiastically joining in with everyone else (unless it's a world premiere, but let's not worry about that).

But if you'd like to try A, because it's always fun to know exactly what you're listening to, here are some guidelines.  Most movements run most of their course at relatively the same tempo.  They may speed up or slow down, maybe have a few tempo changes in between, but by and large, they'll be about the same speed throughout, usually starting and ending the same (an exception being for example the very first movement of a classical symphony which may have a slow opening just as an attention grabber before moving into a quicker pace which it then continues for the rest of the movement).  So if it looks like the entire orchestra is shifting from one gear into another, there's a decent chance that this is a movement change.  You'll also probably see some pages turned in the sheet music, instruments being put down by people who were playing and picked up by people who were not.  The other thing is to actually follow the tempi as put forth by the composer.  The movements almost always have them indicated (in Italian).  Words you'll see that indicate a "faster" movement, or rather, one that does not feel consciously slow, are Allegro, Allegretto, Vivace, Vivo, Presto, and Scherzo (not technically a speed, but it almost always is quick).  Words to indicate a "slower" movement would be Lento, Andante, Andantino, Adagio, Largo, and Grave.  There's also the very real possibility that you will know the true ending of the piece because it will just "feel" like an ending.  The orchestra plays loud chords with every member of the orchestra playing, and they all cut off together and the conductor finishes his movements with a flourish looking pleased.  This is not always the case, though, so be prepared for anything if you're not familiar with this piece of music.

When this piece is then concluded, you would indicate just how enthusiastically you enjoyed it by the number of times you bring the conductor back on stage after he/she goes off.  Again it is considered customary to bring the conductor back at least once, but if you've been particularly impressed, feel free to keep applauding in order to bring him/her back on repeatedly.  You will find that you may be more or less enthused than other attendees, and this is normal, nothing will be held against you if you choose to stop clapping before others or clap after many others have stopped.  You may also give a standing ovation here if you've particularly enjoyed the concert.  It is fairly rare for the orchestra to give an encore as a whole, but I have seen it done.  With this, the conductor leaves the stage, the concert is over, and you may continue on with the rest of your evening's plans.

I hope this is helpful to you, and if you have any questions, please feel free to let me know.