Back in the late ‘70s, a young high-school band director named Bob Rogers found himself with a problem.
He wanted to take his student performers on the road. He wanted them to perform for new audiences on new stages. He wanted them to rise to meet fresh challenges. He wanted them to see more of the world.
But when he looked to traditional travel planners for help, he quickly learned that they didn’t get it. They couldn’t grasp the nuances of student performance travel or the thousands of unique details that comprise a successful tour.
So, Bob took matters into his own hands. In 1981, he launched Bob Rogers Travel, dedicated to serving his friends and peers in music education with expertly planned performance travel experiences.
Today, BRT is led by Bob’s adult children, Tami and Todd. We travel with over 900 performing groups each year, dreaming up amazing itineraries that thrill first-time travelers and seasoned ensembles alike. Whether your group is large or small, here’s what we know:
Traveling with students isn’t simple. But it can – and should! – be seamless.
Here’s how performance travel is different – and how we go the extra mile to make it easy for you, your performers and your program.
The Needs of Performing Groups Are Unique
As a music educator, you know that traveling with young performers is different than any other type of student travel. You’re not just taking dozens of kids on the road, you’re managing instruments, uniforms, music arrangements, venues, and a dozen other logistical details – because your students are doing more than exploring a new destination, they’re performing in it.
We’ve taken over 10,000 performance groups on the road, thinking through all the details and logistics so our directors don’t have to. Here are the key elements we keep in mind as we’re planning performance itineraries:
Type of Performance
We work with many kinds of performance groups, of all shapes and sizes: marching bands, choral groups, orchestras, jazz bands, and concert bands, to name just a few. Each has unique logistics and equipment, and we’re equipped to handle all of them.
Location and Venue
Where will your group be performing? Perhaps in a clinic on a university campus, or in a public space, like a theme park, greenspace, or attraction. Or maybe you’re marching in a huge parade or participating in a festival or competition. The options are endless. You name a location and we’ve planned an itinerary for it.
While they often share some common features, every venue is different, offering both benefits and challenges. For example, some venues include chairs and music stands for performers – but others don’t, and those items need to be rented. We’ve worked with every type of venue, from world-renowned concert halls to charming outdoor plazas, so we’re experts on making music happen in every kind of space.
Your Performers
Part of our planning process involves getting to know you and your unique group of student performers – who you are, how your program functions and the unique needs your group may have. And those needs and goals can evolve with every new group of students.
A performing arts program is never the same from year to year, and we pride ourselves on meeting your performers where they are – and designing a tour that’s perfect for them.
Every Performance Travel Itinerary Is Different
We love every kind of student travel, but we also know that, on paper at least, most class trips to state capitals or your regional theme park are pretty similar. But 10 different performance groups could travel to Orlando, and those 10 itineraries could be completely different.
One year, you may choose to focus on group bonding; another year you may want to push your performers to learn new skills with expert clinicians. Some years are perfect for competition, while others are better for celebrating. You know your performers and what your program needs next – and we’re here to help you identify the “why” that grounds your trip in its purpose.
Your Performance Travel Planning Timeline Is Longer
Performance travel is often planned around specific festivals, parades, and seasons – but no matter when on the calendar your trip falls, planning early is the name of the game. After leading over 10,000 trips, we’ve learned that the sweet spot is starting 10-18 months before your group hits the road.
Hotels, transportation vendors, and restaurants all tend to have ideal availability in this window. This also gives us time to negotiate the best prices with our longstanding vendors and pass those savings along to you. And, in those rare cases that the original plan can’t be pulled off, planning early allows you to pivot to a Plan B that still provides a memorable experience for your performance group.
If you have parade or festival dreams for your students, it’s absolutely critical to get those applications in early. Give yourself plenty of time to manage the application process, which often includes audition recordings, pictures, interviews, etc. We’ve worked with dozens of festival, competition, and parade participants – we’re ready to coach you through the process so you don’t miss a thing.
And there’s time to fundraise. When you give your group plenty of time to achieve your fundraising goals, it makes travel more feasible for every student. There are so many ways to fundraise your way to an incredible travel experience, but the more time you have, the better. Also, the earlier you announce the trip, the more students will commit, and the more time they’ll have to plan and save.
Your Trip Is All About You
We make it our mission to get to know you and the unique needs and goals you have for your students, whether you’re new to traveling with your students or you’re simply new to us. We build lasting relationships with our clients, often planning performance travel experiences year after year for the directors we serve. Our planning process makes travel seamless, taking the details off your plate so you can focus on your students and the music.
We’d love the opportunity to connect with you and learn more about the travel dreams you have for your performance program. Let’s talk through the possibilities together – reach out today.
