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It takes the pressure off remembering to register when school starts. Your first choice date is locked in. You can announce your plans to parents & boosters at Back-to-School night. Potential students are attracted to sign up for band, orchestra, choir, etc. More time for fundraising! It allows more time for grant writing or to…

Include your students in a big musical thank you to administration & staff for supporting the music program this year! Include your students in a big musical thank you to their parents and boosters! Tell your students to sign up for next year and give them a reason why they should!  (Music trip, friendship, choir/band/orchestra…

It’s Teacher Appreciation Week!  Never too late or too early to thank a teacher for his or her impact on your life!  Melissa Salguero built an remarkable music program at P.S. 48 in New York City.  When she started, the program had absolutely no instruments, no funding, and the school hadn’t had a music program…

Your students are lining up to choose classes for next year. The time to recruit students for your music program continues.  How about sharing with your school community a list of famous people who participated in school music programs?  Maybe you’ll light an artistic fire in a celebrity of the future! Blake Lively – The…

Over the past 24 years, we’ve hosted thousands of music groups at festivals.  But, guitar ensemble registrations have markedly risen over the last 10 years.  NAfME’s ongoing series, “50 States of Guitar Class,” features interviews with respected music educators across the country.   According to the series, some programs have developed because of the teacher’s own…

A young middle school jazz band instructor recently came to a festival armed with handwritten notes on school notepaper and thrust them at me on the way to the warm up room. His plea as he ran – “Please make the judges read this!”  Wading through the notes, I learned that Johnny so and so…

In our history, we’ve welcomed groups of all sizes and abilities.  Whereas some festivals require a minimum number of students, that’s something that we’ve never done.  Because our founders were themselves music educators (with big programs, by the way), they felt that the quality of the program was not necessarily determined by the quantity of…

As we get ready to celebrate the holidays, we reflect on the privilege of hosting many of you at festivals over the past 24 years. We hope that you will enjoy the holidays and focus on friends and family. Our staff wishes you the very best in the coming year and  a season of health,…

It’s that special time of year – excitement is definitely in the air!  You’re preparing your students for their holiday concert which is bound to bring a lot of angst to you and to them.  “I’ve only had them at school for a few short months.  What will we get when they file out on…

This holiday season, we’re thankful for loyal customers like you!   In celebration of Thanksgiving, Black Friday and Cyber Monday, we are offering a fabulous discount on one-day or overnight packages for select  San Diego area festivals. Join us for an all-in-one-day package with a San Diego festival plus a trip to the world-famous San…

Published originally by the National Association for Music Education, written by Paul Fox We’re coming up to Thanksgiving… and school music and art teachers do have a lot for which to be thankful! In spite of all of the pressures involving student recruitment/retention and declining enrollments, equity/access to the arts, scheduling, budget, etc., we are…

Discover sunny San Diego with your students at a deeply discounted festival rate!   Join us on Saturday, April 6, 2019 for an epic event that includes: Adjudicated Forum Music Festival USS Midway Museum self-guided tour Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix film accompanied LIVE by the San Diego Symphony One-night’s lodging at…

Safety is a top priority for Forum Music Festivals. We work hard to ensure all of our clients are safe and sound throughout the duration of their travel with us – whether a one-day or overnight trip. Our goal is to provide the most comfortable and enjoyable experience for your students. Staying current with the…

Fundraising – not exactly the reason you entered music education, is it?  However, if you plan to travel with your students, it’s time to face the fact that fundraising is part of your program. Couple of tips about raising funds for student travel: How much will it cost?  Include the base price of the trip,…

When you take a group on an overnight excursion, you are responsible for keeping track of EVERYTHING!  A tour escort can solve that task by making sure that you are where you need to be on time and with whatever you need.  At Forum, we can arrange for a Tour Escort for you – meet…

If customer service is important to a company, the question to ask is: What problems are we trying to solve for our customers? To answer that question, student event producers have to walk in the shoes of band, orchestra, and choir directors.  At Forum Festivals, here’s what we’re seeing. Financial – Yep, no question about…

Thank you to everyone who joined us in 2018 for another great season of making music! We are accepting registrations for 2019 already and we’d love to put together a custom proposal for you and your students. May we suggest a new itinerary for 2019? We offer festivals in the Anaheim area, San Diego, North…

You’re thinking about including travel in your curriculum this year.  Good for you.  It’s a big step, but very worthwhile in your students’ educational journey.  As you start exploring this idea, consider the five “c’s” of student travel. Consider: This is what you are already doing – thinking it over to see how it will…

At this time of year, travel planners are probably encouraging you to book your 2019 student trip now.  Take note – booking before the end of the school year definitely has benefits for your trip. With early planning… Your current and potential students get a glimmer of what’s ahead! Excitement builds and recruits students! More…

There’s been a volley of comments on the NAfME Music Educator Central Q&A’s.  If you haven’t already joined this community, you might consider checking it out.  It’s a great resource for music teachers to share ideas and solve problems.  Go to www.nafme.org, and then click on Amplify to join the all-member community.  I’m sure many…