SPIC MACAY is a non-profit, voluntary movement for the promotion of Indian Classical Music and Culture formed in 1977 by Dr Kiran Seth, a Prof at IIT, Delhi.  Its objective is to facilitate the exchange of traditional Indian values, to generate awareness amongst the youth about the rich cultural heritage of India and to bring cultural and aesthetic awareness into mainstream education.

At present SPICMACAY is present in over 1000 academic institutions and holds a staggering 3000+ events every year in over 250 cities in India and 50 cities abroad. At the very heart of our movement are the weekly meetings which are open to all where volunteers get together to contribute their time and effort.

<brief information about the local chapter’s activities and history>

You can join this movement and make it grow. The Chapter members meet every <day> at <time> at <address of the meeting place>. Come join us and experience the spirit of volunteerism.

Contact Details: Ph:  <name and contact number of the volunteers>

RESPONSIBILITIES OF EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS CONDUCTING

 PROGRAMMES

Travel:

The artiste, the accompanists, and one SPICMACAY volunteer to be picked-up from the Artists’ place of stay and brought to the venue in a well conditioned vehicle and dropped back.

1. The artistes must be escorted by senior students and/or faculty
2. The educational institution must ensure that all artistes arrive at the venue at one hour before the scheduled time of the program

Publicity:

One set of any photos taken of the artists (performing on stage or along with students) to be submitted to SPIC MACAY.

1. Institute needs to make posters or invites for publicity purpose within their own campus. The Publicity material needs to have clear picture of the performing artist on it.
2. Sponsors’ banners to be put outside the venue. No poster to be displayed inside the venue.
3. A display desk might needs to be provided to the Sponsors for displaying their publicity material.
4. Sponsors names would need to be mentioned as the acknowledgement at the beginning or end of the programmes.

Infrastructure:

1.    Green Room

The institution must ensure that a green room is arranged for the artistes. It should preferably have an attached toilet.

1. This green room should be located in the vicinity of the auditorium.
2. It should be cleaned thoroughly before the day of the programme. All furniture and other items stored in the room should be removed. Foot ware to be kept outside.
3. The green room windows must have curtains to give artists sufficient privacy.
4. It can be beautifully decorated with welcome posters/ cards made by students, flowers, diyas, rangoli.
5. Water bottles and glasses with coasters should be placed.
6. Typically, a seating arrangement will be required on the floor. Darees/ jamkaalams/ carpets can be spread on the floor and covered with white sheets. 3-4 chairs and a table covered with a table cloth can be kept on the side.
7. The green room should be lockable from the outside so that artists can leave behind any instruments or objects of value when needed.
8. Can have an Agarbatti in the remote corner of the green room (check with vocalists if OK) to ensure good fragrance but no smoke.
9. Arrange for Hangars and mirrors (especially for dancers) in the green room.

2.    Stage:

a)    Raised platform of 6 inches – 1 foot on the stage to be covered with white sheets completely.

b)    The stage can be aesthetically decorated with flowers, rangoli, diyas, etc.

c)    The institution must provide the sound system. The specifics regarding the number of mikes, type of speakers and other technical details are given below –   i.        Microphone – <as per artist’s given specifications>

ii.        Monitor (good sound quality) – 2

iii.        Cordless mike for interaction with students – 1

iv.        Lights should be full and normal.

v.        Mineral water – 5 bottles

d)    Only the SPIC MACAY logo (Third Eye) should be displayed on the backdrop. No banner or poster should be displayed on the stage or inside the auditorium.

e)    Sponsors banners/desks (if any) should be put up outside the venue. Sponsors can be acknowledged in the welcome speech.

f)     The concert should preferably be held in a closed auditorium in the baithak style arrangement with chairs placed on the sides and at the back. The students must be seated close to the artistes to derive maximum benefit.

g)    Two small counters (consisting of two tables and four chairs) to be set up outside the venue for a classical music CD counter and SPIC MACAY counter.

h)    A footwear counter with tokens and volunteers to manage can be established at the entrance of the auditorium if the concert is held in the baithak style. Or students can be asked to leave their shoes in their classroom.

i)      The institution must encourage maximum student participation for the program. Posters must be made and put up in vantage points; announcements should be made in assembly and classrooms.

During/After the program:

1. Institution must ensure the concert begins on time. This is very crucial.
2. The concert can begin with the auspicious lamp lighting by the guest of honour + artiste + head of the institution.
3. The compere must have the bio data of all artistes and accompanying artistes. This must be re-confirmed with the artistes before the program begins. All the names/awards/titles must be spelt fittingly.
4. The compere must also check with the main artist the right sequence of introducing/felicitating the artist. For example, in a Carnatic vocal concert, the correct sequence of addressing the artistes would be the vocalist, the violinist, the mridangam and finally the nattuvangam.
5. A SPICMACAY chapter volunteer will speak a few lines about SPIC MACAY and its activities during the introduction.
6. All artistes and accompanists to be felicitated at the end of the program followed by a short vote of thanks. Gifts for the artistes should be carefully selected and should preferably be of some utility value than a memento of the institution. Same gift should be given to all artists (main and accompanists).

Announcements:

1)    All cell phones must be switched off during the program.

2)    There must be minimal movement during the program. Students who wish to move in/out can do so in between two pieces and NOT during the performance.

3)    Flash photography is strictly prohibited during the program. Any photography/video must be taken with the consent of the artistes; taken before the program.

4)    An interactive question-answer session for 15 minutes will be held at the end of the programme with the artistes.

 Hospitality (Before/After the concert):

Institution to arrange for light refreshments such as good tea/snacks before the concert. The students to take initiative and serve the artistes themselves. This also gives them a sense of contribution to keep up their voluntary spirit.

1. Bottled water + glasses to be kept on stage or in the proximity of stage during the program
2. 3.    The institution to also make arrangements for Breakfast/Lunch for the artistes before/after the programme depending on the time.

 Monetary Contribution:

Since a large amount of money is spent on organizing these programmes, we request you to give a minimum token contribution of Rs XX,XXX/- per programme for schools and Rs XX,XXX/- per programme for colleges to be paid through DD/Cheque drawn in favour of SPIC MACAY. A receipt for the same will be issued by the SPIC MACAY volunteer immediately.

Acknowledgement:

An acknowledgement for holding a concert must be submitted to the SPIC MACAY Volunteer. This must be printed on the Institution letter head and duly signed by the Head of the institution. The format is given below:

Letter of Acknowledgement

This is to inform you that we, ……………………..(Institution Name) hosted SPIC MACAY Concert by ………………..(Artist Name) on ……….(Date) at ………..(Time).

(Kindly add in your words of appreciation about the concert)

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