2. Include in your first paragraph the name of the group or organization performing, the place of performance, the works and their composers being performed, and the date of performance.

3. If you can find out the works being performed before the concert, gather as much information as possible about them. Read about the composers and the works (the reference section in the library is a good place to start to look for information, then try the card catalog). For an opera, read the libretto (the script of the opera). For a symphony or chamber works, see if you can find a score (the music). But best of all, try to listen to a recording of the work(s) that will be performed (again, the library is a good source -- if our library doesn't have one, this is a good time to try the public library). Some operas are on videotape -- the MCC Library has started to collect some of these, and the public library may have some.

4. Strike a balance between describing each detail of the music and offering only general comments, which are basically meaningless or obvious. Describe the music both objectively and subjectively, but avoid rhapsodizing in purple phrases or condemning in round tones. Give your opinions, but be fair.

5. Jot down notes after each piece of music or at the end of the movements about what you have just heard. Attend the performance with a friend and discuss it afterwards, but don't write your reports together if the friend is a classmate.

6. Briefly describe each work or each movement of a longer work. Comment on the form (symphony, sonata, etc.), the tempo, the key or mode, and other notable features of the melody, rhythm, instrumentation, etc.

7. Read other music reviews -- both of the performance you attended and other performances. Sources include the local newspapers, New Yorker, music journals, local magazines.

8. Interview musicians involved in the performance, if possible.

9. If you use quotes or paraphrases from outside sources in your review, document them according to the MLA Style.

10. For opera reviews, take the above into consideration as well as the guidelines for theatre reviews.