Have you ever wanted to know what are the steps in organizing a successful international organ festival? This is an important and complex project and in this article I will share with you the 5 steps you should take during the festival itself.
1) Pick up and be with your guests when they arrive.
Be polite and offer picking your organists up from the airport, bus or train station.
Take them to the hotel, go together somewhere to eat and show them the organ.
It is important they have enough time to relax, too.
2) Take your guest to rehearsal on the organ.
Allow a minimum 2 rehearsals of 2 hours each.
Some organists may require more time for practice.
They take these rehearsals very seriously because it takes a lot of time to properly adjust to the instrument and to make registrations.
3) Sell the tickets.
You can sell the tickets at the door or allow advance reservations.
By the way, certain churches do not allow ticket sales.
In this case, donations from the audience could be a good possibility.
4) Show up at the concerts.
Because you are the Artistic Director, it will be your duty to say an opening speech, to introduce the artists, thank the sponsors etc.
While doing so you may need a microphone.
Also you have to make sure everything during the concert is going as smoothly as possible.
5) Plan for a reception afterwards.
It is a good idea to arrange a small reception following the concert.
It is a perfect time for your organists to talk to the audience.
Your listeners also will have the possibility to express their appreciation to the organist.
Use the above tips to ensure that your festival will be going as smoothly as possible.