This Page describes the Program Process for:
- Symphony Orchestra
- University Orchestra
- New Music Ensemble
- Wind Ensemble
- Symphony Band
- Wind Symphony
Other ensembles can find their workflows here:
Digital Programs
Beginning in Fall 2024, all programs for these ensembles in BSOM facilities will be fully online digital programs. Full programs will be posted on your event page on the BSOM event calendar. Audience members will access the program by scanning a QR code upon entry into the hall, or before they arrive. Streaming audiences will also have access to the full program online.
The upgraded digital programs are fully interactive programs written in native html and optimized for small screens that will provide a better experience for concert goers than the previous .pdf paperless programs. See an example of a digital program.
Submission Form
All Ensembles must submit a program submission form to begin the programs process. Programs must be submitted using the provided form and submitted here.
Forms are due 30 days before your event.
Only official forms in Word (.docx) format will be accepted. We will not accept:
- Submissions in your own form or template
- Google doc links or Apple Pages documents
- PDFs
Submit your form by uploading it here. Do not email it.
- Submit artist bios INSIDE the submission form.
- Submit artist headshots separately, by clearly naming the file with the Artist’s name.
- See Bios & headshots below for more info.
Point of Contact
Each ensemble should elect a single person to be the point-of-contact with the programs office for all communication (this is most often the ensemble TA, but may be whomever the ensemble director appoints). All drafts and proofing will funnel through that point person. The marketing designer will send proofs to and receive changes from only the assigned point-of-contact. See details under Making Corrections below.
PROGRAM WORKFLOW & DEADLINES
The workflow for receiving a final program is as follows:| From Concert | Action |
|---|---|
| August 1 | Program notes are commissioned for your entire season based on the repertoire the Performance Library received in the summer. |
| 60 Days | Final day to notify the programs office of any repertoire changes in order to receive a program note for new rep. |
| 37 Days | Programs office will email the ensemble contact a reminder with a new submission form. |
| 30 Days | Program submission is due. This is a hard deadline. Programs that are not submitted by the deadline will not be produced by the programs office. If you are missing some information, e.g. your roster is incomplete, you should submit as much information as possible by the deadline and plan to update the rosters during the proofing process. |
| 27 Days | First draft of your program is published to your event page on the event calendar. |
| 27-7 Days | Revision Period: Contact should solicit & collect revisions and submit them to the programs office promptly. For each round of changes received, the programs office will supply new drafts within 3 business days. The number of drafts you receive is entirely dependent on how promptly you submit corrections. It is the ensemble’s responsibility submit revisions in a timely manner. The programs office will not send reminders. |
| 7 Days | Your final set of corrections is due. Upon publication of this final set of corrections, the programs office will consider the program complete. |
| 7-0 Days | Because programs are now online, last-minute changes and corrections may now be possible. Corrections to your program during this time should generally be minor changes. The Programs office will make every effort to make the changes, but changes to your program after the 7-day deadline are not guaranteed. |
| Event Date | Your assigned event managers will pick up QR codes for your event and display them at entrances to the hall. |
Reminders
The only reminder you will receive from the programs office is the initial email with the included submission form. the programs office will not send follow-up emails to remind you to proof your programs.
Please note that while the programs office makes every effort to send a 37-day reminder email, all reminders from the programs office are courtesy reminders. The deadline for each concert is the same, and it is ultimately the responsibility of ensemble leadership to make sure to submit program information in time regardless of whether a reminder was received. It is your responsibility to ensure the program is finished by the 7-day deadline.
Program Notes
The school will supply original program notes for repertoire that is submitted in a timely fashion. Beginning Fall 2024, program notes for the full year are assigned based on the repertoire your ensemble turned in to the performance library before August 1.
View the program notes we have commissioned for your ensemble.
Anytime you make changes to scheduled repertoire you must notify the marketing designer of the change ASAP and not later than 60 days before your concert in order to ensure we have time to commission a new note. The programs office does not keep track of your repertoire updates.
We can not guarantee a program note for any repertoire changes that occur within 60 days of your concert.
Submitting Your Own Notes
Ensembles may choose to submit their own notes in cases when we are unable to provide them (for instance, late repertoire additions to the concert). Submitted program notes are subject to approval. any submitted program notes must:
- Be either wholly original, or we must have written permission from the author or copyright holder to publish the notes.
- Not be plagiarized.
- Not be heavily sourced from Wikipedia.
- Be well-written, factually correct, and concise (around 200 words per note).
- Be free of extensive musical jargon or ‘insider information.’ They should be written for general audiences, to help both musicians and non-musicians better enjoy the music.
- Must contain the following ‘quick facts:’ Composer birth, Composer death if applicable, composition date, premiere date & details if known, approximate duration in minutes. See an example of the quick facts here.
Notes that do not meet these criteria will not be published.
Texts & Translations
For choral and vocal performances, the school will print text and translations in your program, but does not provide them on your behalf. You must provide any texts you wish to include according to these guidelines:
- All translations must be clear of copyright issues. This means they must meet one of the following criteria:
- original translations by someone on your team
- in the public domain
- covered under a Creative Commons license
- you must have written permission from the copyright holder to run the translations in your program.
- The programs office will not run any translation if proof of copyright clearance can not be established.
- Texts & Translations take extensive time to layout properly, and so they must be included in your initial submission by the 30-day deadline. They can not be added during the revisioning process, and requests to do so will be rejected.
Bios & Headshots
We print program bios and photos for conductors, guest conductors, and featured soloists & guests.
ALL BIOS MUST BE 170 WORDS OR LESS.
Faculty Artists & TAs
The program office keeps program bios & headshots for BSOM Faculty and TAs on file for use in programs. If you are a new faculty member or TA, you should provide a 170-word bio and headshot to nathan.russell@austin.utexas.edu. Bios must be 170 words or less. Longer bios will be truncated and may not reflect the information that is most important to you.
BSOM Faculty and TAs may update their program assets during the proofing process, or at any time by emailing new photos or bios directly to nathan.russell@austin.utexas.edu. Updates will be kept on file for future use.
Guest Artists
If your program has featured guest conductors or soloists who are not BSOM Faculty or TAs, we will require a bio and headshot from the performer for the program. You may collect them yourself, or ask the artist to send their assets directly to nathan.russell@austin.utexas.edu. Bios must be 170 words or less. Longer bios will be truncated and may not reflect the information that is most important to your guest.
Featured Bio
If your concert includes an especially celebrated or honored guest performer, you may choose to submit a Single Featured Bio of up to 300 words for that guest performer. There is a limit of 1 Featured Bio per program. Featured bios should be used sparingly for high-profile guests.
Photos
Please only send high-resolution photos. Photos should be a minimum of 2000 pixels on the vertical side. In general, vertical headshots are preferred for programs to horizontal photos.
Making Corrections
- Your ensemble team may choose who should be involved in the proofing process. Have your point person distribute the proofs to your selected team, and collect edits from the team. Only the assigned point person should be in contact with the marketing designer.
- Digital Programs are made public via the event calendar at music.utexas.edu. This means that there is no private drafting process, the initial draft of your program will be available to the public. For this reason it’s best to ensure your submission form is as free from errors as possible, and that you should proof the first version of your program as soon as possible to minimize the amount of time any errors are live on the website.
- Before sending corrections to the marketing designer, the point person should aggregate all the changes from your group into a single document or email, and ensure that none of the changes contain conflicting information. If there is a conflict, resolve the conflicting data internally before sending corrections. If you send conflicting change requests, those requests will be ignored by the programs office until you resolve the conflicting information internally.
- Send a single change list in the body of an email. The changes must be collated into a single list. Do not simply forward multiple change lists from multiple email addresses.
