The University of Tennessee’s Natalie L. Haslam College of Music is gearing up for another year of great music. Students and faculty are working tirelessly to showcase their hard work and talent to the public.

There are a variety of smaller performances from junior and senior recitals, faculty, interdisciplinary and sometimes guest performances. Most of the student, faculty and master classes are done through the Powell recital hall.

“What’s awesome about Powell recital hall is that it has been sound engineered, where a vocalist does not have to be mic’d up and can just sing, and their voice can project to the back of the room,” Ella Pinchok, a junior studying flute music education, said.

The school of music works with students to set up the hall for the students’ performance theme. Performers have the freedom to include certain lighting colors, sound effects, and more for their performance.

“I think it’s really a special thing that we are able to offer a space where students can have that creative freedom to experiment and try different things,” Austin Orr, multimedia manager for the College of Music, said. “Performers have the ability to make those creative choices with lighting, sound, how they play and what they play.”

Performers advertise their recitals by creating posters and posting about them on social media. The school of music also helps performers by displaying their posters in the school and on the website.

“A lot of advertising is done through social media and the college of music puts out posts,” Caleb DeLong, senior French horn performance major, said. “It’s definitely a developing system, and we just got a new website, and we are starting to advertise things, which is really exciting for the future.”

The website is up to date and is updated regularly when students set their performance date.

For most music students, attendance at the recitals is not mandatory. Mandatory attendance varies by studio. The UT music students and faculty are very supportive of each other when it comes to performances.

“We usually have a good student turnout and faculty usually come to support as well,” Pinchok said.

When it comes to the audience number, the quantity does not really matter to some.

“I think an engaged audience is more important than quantity. No matter how many people are in the audience, it’s just a special feeling to perform,” Delong said.

The attendance number also has to do with the space the performance is located in. Since the ensemble concerts, such as choir, orchestra and other larger ensembles, perform in Cox auditorium, the number can get up to 100 plus. Whereas performances in the Powell recital hall are a bit smaller.

“The amount of people that attend our performances really depends on the actual performance itself,” Alissa Galyon, director of marketing and communications for Natalie L. Haslam College of Music, said.

Audience members are not just seen in person. Each performance is livestreamed for those who can not attend.

“We have a livestream option that has proven to be a great way to connect with audiences that are not in Knoxville and we have a great return rate on those,” Galyon said.

Livestream option has been offered to the public prior to COVID, but the pandemic really emphasized the importance of offering a digital viewing option. The school of music has broadened the livestreaming options in the later stages in the pandemic and beyond. The majority of the performances now are livestreamed.

“Some of the metrics from the livestream over 365 days show over 19,000 views,” Galyon said. “The majority of those views are from the United States. Our top-viewed concerts are our choral ensemble concerts, Wind Ensemble, Concert and Symphonic Bands and our Symphony Orchestra.”