Please read all recording policies carefully. Violations of any of these rules or disrespectful behavior towards Concert Office staff may result in loss of recording privileges for the remainder of the semester or academic year. Serious offenses may also be reported to the Senior Associate Dean of Academic and Student Affairs.
Concert halls may be used by current students for self-recordings or livestreamed auditions ONLY.
- Lessons, practice, rehearsals, and other uses are not permitted in our performance halls.
- Alumni are not eligible to book halls, including during the summer immediately following your graduation.
Students may only use concert halls with a reservation under their own name.
- The student who makes the reservation is the only one allowed to use the reserved time. You may perform with collaborators, but the student named on the confirmation must be a performer in every piece recorded during the session. You may not give your reserved time to anyone else.
- You are not permitted to use a hall that appears to be available if you do not have a booking. Public Safety will remove any student who cannot produce proof of a reservation in their own name. Attempting to enter a hall when you do not have it reserved or asking ushers for hall availability or access is also a violation of this policy.
- If caught sharing reservations, both the student who made the reservation and the student who uses it will lose their recording privileges for the remainder of the semester and may also face additional consequences, as well.
Students may record in Hatch or Kilbourn Hall a maximum of once every two weeks, as well as in Howard Hanson a maximum of once every two weeks.
- The two-week maximum is from when the recording takes place, meaning any two sessions for the same student must be at least 14 days apart. This limit does not have to do with the date you make the request.
- Students are allowed one session per two weeks in either Hatch or Kilbourn, not one per each hall.
- Recordings in Hatch/Kilbourn do not affect eligibility for time in Howard Hanson (ex. a student can have one recording in Hatch and one in Howard Hanson within the same two week period).
Students may book Hatch or Kilbourn a maximum of five times per academic year, with no more than three sessions in any single semester. Students may book Howard Hanson a maximum of five times per semester.
- The Hatch/Kilbourn maximum is a total across both halls; students may not have five sessions per each hall.
- For the purposes of this policy, the academic year is defined as the first day of fall Orientation through Commencement. There is no limit on recordings over the summer (between Commencement and the start of Orientation the next fall), as long as each booking follows all other policies.
Recording sessions during the academic year have a maximum length of two hours.
- Depending on hall schedules, available recording slots may be shorter than two hours, and booking maximums apply regardless of session length (ex. a student cannot book two, 1-hour sessions less than two weeks apart).
- Over summer, winter, and spring breaks only, students are permitted to book one session of up to six hours in length, to allow for projects with more extensive set-up and tear-down. Students are allowed a maximum of one such longer session per break. Sessions longer than two hours are never permitted during the academic year nor during fall break. In most cases, longer sessions will be scheduled in Howard Hanson or Ray Wright Room. To accommodate scheduling, longer sessions may be requested three weeks in advance instead of two.
Requests for recordings may be made up to two weeks in advance, on a first-come, first-served basis.
- Requests for Hatch, Kilbourn, and Howard Hanson can only be made by visiting the Concert Office in person during business hours. Requests may not be made via email.
- Recordings that will take place over a weekend cannot be requested until Monday of two weeks before, as the Concert Office is closed on weekends. Requests are never accepted for any date more than 14 days in advance.
Be prepared with multiple dates that work for you and all collaborators. Times cannot be held while you decide.
- The Concert Office does not give out availability or hold options open for you while you consult collaborators. Please do not contact the Concert Office until you are prepared to confirm a booking and come prepared with at least 3-4 possible dates and times for booking. Confirmed bookings are final and cannot be changed.
Once a session is confirmed, it can be cancelled but not rescheduled.
- If you cancel a confirmed session, you may not rebook until you are eligible to request another recording (2 weeks after the date you had previously reserved).
- If you do need to cancel, please notify the Concert Office as soon as possible, so the time can be assigned to another student. Any reassignment of time will be managed by the Concert Office; it is not permitted for you to offer time to another student and doing so will result in losing your recording privileges.
- If a session is cancelled with under 2 business days of notice, it will count against the maximum sessions allowed per semester and per academic year. Sessions cancelled with more notice will not count towards your totals.
Recording sessions are only offered as hall availability allows.
- Concert halls are performance venues first and foremost. Availability for recording is never guaranteed.
- Due to concert schedules, Hatch and Kilbourn are not available for student recordings between spring break and the end of spring semester. Howard Hanson will still be available during this period.
- Recordings are not permitted on University holidays or from 12/23 through New Years Day. At the Concert Office’s discretion, halls may be closed for other periods with high concert activity, as well.
You must clean up properly and vacate the hall by the end of your reserved time.
- All set up, tear down, and clean up must occur within your reserved time. You may not arrive early to set up, nor may you stay past your reserved time to collect your belongings. Please plan appropriately on when to end your final take of recording, so you allow sufficient time for all clean up tasks.
- At the end of your recording, you are responsible for cleaning and resetting the concert hall. This includes:
- Closing the piano lid.
- Replacing the piano desk (NOTE: if you remove the piano desk at any point during your session, please store it backstage in an upright position. It should never be laid on the floor).
- Replacing the piano cover, or folding it neatly and storing it in a backstage area where it does not obstruct any walkways. Piano covers should not be left on the floor of the stage or in the audience seating area.
- Clearing all chairs and stands from the stage and returning all chairs and stands you’ve used to the backstage area. Please stack chairs neatly and do not obstruct any walkways.
- Returning all pianos to their original positions on the stage, if you’ve moved them. Note that if the Kilbourn stage extension is up, pianos should NEVER be placed on or rolled across the extension.
- Coiling and storing any cords or wires you’ve used.
- Removing all trash and personal belongings from the concert hall, including the audience areas.
- Please note that food and beverages other than water are not permitted in Eastman’s concert venues.
Students must follow appropriate procedures for using the halls and built-in equipment.
- Students may not change the light settings in Hatch or Kilbourn. The lights should be on when you arrive, and if they are not, public safety will turn them on for you. Students are not permitted to adjust individual light settings or the overall brightness, nor may you otherwise alter the lighting board in any way.
- Before using the self-record system in Howard Hanson, you must receive training from a Technology & Media Production staff member. You will receive instructions on scheduling this training when you confirm a booking in Howard Hanson. The self-record system is password protected, so it is not possible to use without following the proper procedures. Please reach out to T&MP as soon as your recording is scheduled, as available training times are limited.
All sessions are considered “self-recordings.” If you need assistance with recording equipment, contact T&MP.
- All set-up/tear-down of recording equipment must be completed within the allotted recording slot.
- Halls must be booked through the Concert Office before you contact the Technology & Media Production department about using recording equipment.
- Students who are not recording themselves are responsible for knowing and complying with the Recording Services policy. Per this policy, a student may check out T&MP equipment as available for their personal use and may engage a fellow student or faculty member to assist with making the recording using T&MP-provided equipment, but a student may not bring in outside recording engineers or other non-ESM/UR affiliated individuals or companies to produce recordings on campus.
Ciminelli Lounge and Ray Wright Room are available for self-booking using Virtual-EMS.
- These halls may be booked online 7 days in advance.
- Students are limited to two, 2-hour reservations per two weeks in either of these spaces.
- The Concert Office will not book these spaces for student recording outside of the self-booking system.
- The Virtual-EMS system can be accessed at: https://www.calendar.rochester.edu/
- For assistance with Virtual-EMS, please contact the Registrar’s Office at registrar@esm.rochester.edu.