Accompanists

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Blackman Music Building Regulations

General Policies 

The Accompanying Program is administered by the Director of Accompanying, who is responsible for all assignments and other arrangements. A fee is paid to those accompanists who reach the proficiency of studio accompanying through study or previous experience. No fees are paid to student accompanists who are enrolled in an Accompanying course and who carry responsibilities of accompanying as part of the course. The Accompanying Program is organized on the premise that student accompanists are learning a valuable skill and are gaining important experience. 

Subject to availability, accompanists are provided for Converse music majors taking lessons enrolled in the 220, 320, 430, and 620 lesson series at the Petrie School of Music. Accompanists may be available to music minors or those taking elective or secondary lessons subject to availability and at the discretion of the Director of Accompanying. The Petrie School of Music does not provide accompanists for Lawson Academy students. 

Accompanist Responsibilities: 

  1. The accompanist must be available for one-half hour of the lesson each week. Freshman, Sophomore, Junior, Senior, and Graduate students are also entitled to an additional half hour of rehearsal time per week outside the lesson. This time is strictly for ensemble, not to teach to the soloist. 
  2. Accompanists are expected to learn their music independently and should come to lessons prepared. 
  3. If an accompanist must miss a lesson, they must inform the student and the teacher in advance. If too many lessons are missed for insufficient reasons, the teacher should notify the Director of Accompanying immediately. 
  4. The student accompanist must be available at Student Recital hour when their singer or instrumentalist is performing. 

Singer/Instrumentalist Responsibilities:

  1. An original copy of music (no photocopies) must be made available to the accompanist in adequate time for preparation. Since sight-reading skills vary considerably, the accompanist must be informed of the repertoire for the next lesson at the previous one. 
  2. Students must notify their accompanist if a lesson is to be missed. Students should not expect their teachers to do this. 
  3. The accompanist must be given at least a week’s notice of plans to perform on Student Recital. The accompanist has the right to refuse last minute requests. 
  4. The accompanist should be compensated at a mutually agreed upon rate for any rehearsal time in excess of that outlined above. 
  5. To compensate for the extra practice and rehearsal involved in the preparation of a major public performance, a fee should be agreed upon beforehand for the accompanying of Junior, Senior and Graduate Recitals. Similarly, accompanists should receive additional compensation for such outside activities as NATS or MTNA auditions. 
  6. If there is a problem with the competence or reliability of an accompanist, the teacher should notify the Director of Accompanying immediately.