Step one: Get parents on board

When it comes to convincing students to sign up for a performance tour, there’s one thing we’ve learned: you don’t have to convince students to sign up for a performance tour! Students are nearly always excited to try something new, explore the world and try independence on for size. The folks that typically need convincing are their parents – and for good reason. Their initial thoughts tend to focus on costs and safety concerns rather than the life-changing benefits student travel offers.

As the director, you’re going to answer their questions, calm their concerns and share the reasons why a student performance tour can be instrumental in the lives of their kids. Below, we’ve shared a few thoughts from some of our recent travelers. Their experiences put into words the tremendous benefits of student travel and can give you inspiration as you share those benefits with the parents in your performance group.

On bonding with their peers

I’ve gotten to know people that I’ve known for 13 years, but I didn’t know that much about them until we were on this trip –being able to get closer with has been really exciting for me.

Going to all these places and crowding close together and really talk to each other if we haven’t before –it just kind of brings us closer together because we’re experiencing it together. 

On exploring a new destination

When you walk down the street here it’s like walking through different countries. You’re seeing people of all different ethnicities, different backgrounds –you don’t know where anyone’s come from.

And it just really puts you in your place and helps you recognize that there’s more outside than just my small town and suburban Wisconsin –there’s more going on the world.

On performing and learning from clinicians

Where I’m from we don’t have a lot of huge cathedrals that we can go and sing in and hear the resonant sounds of our voices. For me that’s incredible because the impact of the sounds we sing are so much greater here.

I’ve learned that music is a part of me and it’s a part of everybody else on this trip. Music is what connects us. Being on the trip around everybody who’s really good at making music and expressing themselves through music inspired me.

Getting to work with the conductor of the New York Phil was just an eye-opening experience. The amount of knowledge this person has of music is just mind blowing after all those years of conducting one of the best orchestras in the world.

Meeting people who love music and are doing it successfully as a career really encourages me and makes me for sure want to do this for the rest of my life.

It was really great to see people who really really enjoyed the music because at concerts it’s all parents are obviously very enthusiastic about us playing.  But the applause is more polite whereas the (audience) was like YES! –like you made their day.

On traveling for the first time

My extended family was looking at our itinerary and they were like “oh my gosh you’re doing things that we’ve never even gotten to and we never imagined anyone in our family would do!

Having that musical experience, that cultural experience and the social experience of people and kind of going around the city and learning new things is absolutely amazing! It just creates the best memories and the best stories to tell when you get back home.

I paid for the whole entire trip myself and it was worth every single penny – it’s the most magical experience in the world for anyone.

Sharing all the incredible reasons to travel is just part of a successful parent meeting. We work with our clients to plan those initial parent meetings and get their performance tours kicked off right. For more information about how we partner with directors in every step of the trip planning process, reach out today.