Adjudicating Piano Festivals .. You are a candidate for "What Not to Wear"

I have just ventured into adjudicating piano festivals this year. I am glad that Winfield (Walnut Valley Music Teachers' Assoc) piano teachers remembered me and have graciously asked me to judge their students. I also adjudicated at the Ark City Middle School Festival.

I seem to have the reputation of being a nice person.. though I often feel I'm pretty hard on students. It is nerve racking at times what to say and what to write and what ratings to give. Of course in the mini masterclass settings, their parents and often very young siblings (I mean toddlers) could be in the room. I have heard of horror stories of a student not being able to take even the kindest critique and worse, having his/her parent/s jump on you.

Thankfully the comments I have received from the teachers about my rating sheets were complementary. I think after growing up in the Asian education system, I am much more careful not to attack the performer but just critic the performance. I remembered my ABRSM exams and the comments examiners gave me. They never attacked me, but they never really encouraged me either, mostly stated just as a matter of fact. I'm glad I took the time to carefully phrase my sentences and choose my words. I almost wanted copies of all my own rating sheets so I could see which words I overused (perhaps I still do). I hope I addressed the problem (if present) and offered enough comments/suggestions for the student & teacher to ponder. I dislike it when my students get comments that leave us nowhere to go.

I framed my comments in the context of whether the student displayed a basic understanding of the piece they were presenting. I didn't really care whether it was as fast as it should be (they were just in middle school) but I wanted to hear clear balance, some understanding of the technique required, some sense of phrasing and musical style. I found the most difficult task was giving an actual number rating. I hope my comments justified the rating I gave.

At times, I couldn't help but notice the stage etiquette. I think I lived with a theater costumer enough that I hope her great dress sense rubbed off on me. My favorite two comments that I wrote and may get me really famous in Winfield are:

"Your choice of footwear interferes with pedalling" She was wearing flipflops and there was little control of the damper pedal marring an otherwise decent rendering of an arrangement of Mozart's Turkish March.

"Remember every performance is a formal event and it is never too young to learn to dress professionally" This kid came in with uncombed hair (a huge unstyled afro), a t-shirt, ragged jeans and dirty sneakers. He looked like he rolled out of bed straight into the concert hall.

I will reserve the comment, "You are a candidate for "What Not to Wear" on TLC Fridays 7/8 Central" for the future. So until I judge more advanced students, I will continue to ponder all these and come up with more creative ways to critique but encourage.