tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7298312567843426829.post8738865036497164966..comments2024-03-28T22:40:25.196-02:30Comments on → Music Composition Weblog ←: Experiences as an Adjudicator — Part 1Clark Rosshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13153382609775397798noreply@blogger.comBlogger17125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7298312567843426829.post-30826749831930237092024-03-28T13:26:02.646-02:302024-03-28T13:26:02.646-02:30In many disciplines of life, especially academic o...In many disciplines of life, especially academic ones, it is my belief that those who know how to optimize feedback to their advantage are the most likely to be successful at what they are doing. As musicians, and especially as composers, we are used to regularly getting feedback on our performance, and there is an immediate learning curve to be able to take this feedback. For example, in masterclass, at the start of each year we have a discussion about how the outcome of a single performance is not at all related to your self worth; and how receiving constructive feedback from your peers does not mean that your peers don’t like you. This is a very real lesson that most musicians need to actively learn throughout their practice, and in and of itself is a tough barrier to overcome. However, I feel that this is where a lot of musicians stop. Arguably the most important part of learning how to utilize feedback is the second step: learning from it. It’s one skill to be able to actively listen to feedback, it’s another thing to implement it. <br /> The pivotal moment when I feel I truly learned how to optimize feedback was when I wrote the Medical College Admissions Test (MCAT) in 2021. They teach you during preparation that the best way to use the practice tests is not just to complete them, but to analyze what questions you got wrong and why. From then, when you understand why you got the question wrong (misread the question, knowledge gap, mixing up two concepts, etc.), you can make a targeted review plan to actually fix those mistakes and ensure that you answer those types of questions correctly the next time they come up. Using this strategy helped me to focus my study plan and to greatly improve my score. In a funny enough way, I think that this is very related to performance and composition, especially when it comes to competitions. If competitions are able to give feedback to applicants, composers can learn to use the feedback to their greatest advantage by not only implementing it, but also learning from it. If composers can learn to use feedback to their fullest advantage by using it to create targeted improvement plans, I believe that they can optimize their chances of being successful in future competitions and other competitive endeavours.<br />Emma Hamiltonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06248088736793430440noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7298312567843426829.post-14338158650451931992023-03-31T15:45:12.170-02:302023-03-31T15:45:12.170-02:30I have never read a blog post from the perspective...I have never read a blog post from the perspective of an adjudicator, so this was certainly an interesting read! I second what the wonderful Anna said above, in that "The adjudicator is one person on one day." As lovers of classical music, both old and new, we are automatically biased towards pieces we resonate with. That's fine! That's human nature. I remember my Kiwanis days well, unfortunately. Adjudicators really are the luck of the draw. For so long, I was blessed with awesome piano adjudicators, and not-so-good voice adjudicators. Again, the luck of the draw. However, despite our biases, and that of the adjudicators, it is imperative for the adjudicator to keep an open mind when it comes to our musical voice. If I was an adjudicator, I would resonate the most with someone who had the biggest "voice" or "character" within their piece. But hey, that's just me. I've grown past my competitive Kiwanis days, and this blog post sunk it in for me in that the adjudicator truly is one moment in time. And like all moments in time, they pass. Frank O'Briennoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7298312567843426829.post-1054645370956943742022-03-12T23:27:44.380-03:302022-03-12T23:27:44.380-03:30While I have never submitted a composition to a co...While I have never submitted a composition to a competition or application, I have submitted plenty of performance competition videos, auditions and applications. What really stood out to me in this post was "Not selected as a winner does not equal bad composer" or something along those lines. It reminds me of the classic Kiwanis Music Festival line that your teacher would tell you if you didn't win: "The adjudicator is one person on one day." Sometimes the adjudicator even begins their awards presentation with a statement similar. And as a young performer, this always meant a lot. It is so easy to get wrapped up in the results and it is easy for it to get you down. However, it is one day, one person's opinion. There could've been 500 other adjudicators that would've put you first and Sally second. Sometimes it is apples and oranges. Sometimes an adjudicator has a preference in style of singing or repertoire that they value. You really have to take it all in stride.Anna Jameshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10613019921379231099noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7298312567843426829.post-5176675308575910442019-02-19T13:24:02.700-03:302019-02-19T13:24:02.700-03:30It's kind of funny how winning a competition i...It's kind of funny how winning a competition is made of up of so many subjective decisions. It's not like winning a race, where the person with the best time wins. And the piece that ends up winning is not necessarily the best, but the one that was the most liked. Just like some of the other comments, I agree that the prominent pieces, whether they did well in the competition or not, should get some level of feedback from the adjudicators. It doesn't have to be too detailed, but it's encouraging to know that the panel had a positive reception to your piece. Although any feedback is better than no feedback, I remember when I won my first composition competition, I was surprised by the diversity of the feedback. One adjudicator's only (and major) concern was the lack of tempo changes throughout the piece, which is an aspect of the composition that I had not even considered. And another adjudicator never mentioned tempo, but talked about ways that I could better write for the difficulty set for the competition. No one's feedback contradicted one another, but it wasn't a unified opinion either. So, although composition competitions are great to win, they are definitely more confusing (on both the competition and adjudication side) than simply buying a lottery ticket. Pallashttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07281153317762642087noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7298312567843426829.post-37056922081853486332017-01-19T14:30:22.914-03:302017-01-19T14:30:22.914-03:30I have submitted several applications for scholars...I have submitted several applications for scholarships and also submitted many applications for grants and funding to record albums with several local bands. These have required recording music, filming videos, creating resumes, itineraries, budgets and many other things. However, I have never submitted a piece into a composition competition and I am unsure if i ever will. There is something very daunting about the process to me, and after reading this post, I believe it is the harsh subjective nature of the jury process that scares me from feeling confident in submitting my compositions to competitions. This I know, of course, is quite counterintuitive based on the main points you have made in this post. I am definitely used to the preparation needed in order to submit a large work such as a composition in order to be judged and critiqued with the hopes of winning a competition. For me, I suppose the next step would be to feel a bit more confident about my chances of being successful in such a scenario. Perhaps if I concentrate on this I will in fact submit a piece into a competition eventually. It would definitely be a good challenge to overcome.Jack Etchegarynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7298312567843426829.post-36085936580556369192015-03-22T22:22:46.899-02:302015-03-22T22:22:46.899-02:30I have never entered a composition competition but...I have never entered a composition competition but I have had my fair share of being adjudicated in music festivals. What we need to keep in mind is that we are being adjudicated by another human being. The amount of subjectivity that we must deal with in music is sometimes sickening. The majority of things that we do is based on how what we do is perceived by others. <br /><br />SO moral of the story: Do not let how other people think of your pieces change how you think about them yourself. <br /><br />Who knows, maybe in 50 years your piece that was shot down in some comp composition will be considered one of the greats of our time! <br /><br />Julia Millettnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7298312567843426829.post-28735182705108917702014-03-17T17:25:54.587-02:302014-03-17T17:25:54.587-02:30Although I have not participated in a composition ...Although I have not participated in a composition composition, I can appreciate the uncertainty that one could possibly feel in a situation where he/she did not win or receive feedback from the jury. In any event, it is easy to say that it would be wise to take the extra time to work on all details/aspects of your submission before actually submitting it. <br /><br />It is unfortunate that there is often no feedback in such competitions, which makes the opportunity to learn from your mistakes challenging. Having said that, hopefully there are other ways around finding a way to receive some sort of feedback on a composition. Andrew Galenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7298312567843426829.post-59109118354513025312013-12-13T10:50:58.513-03:302013-12-13T10:50:58.513-03:30This comment has been removed by the author.Bradhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07240110535586338730noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7298312567843426829.post-48718651581262812302013-12-13T10:50:41.643-03:302013-12-13T10:50:41.643-03:30I think the most important thing to take away from...I think the most important thing to take away from this is that don't let not winning something detract value from the music you've written. <br /><br />Doing theatre and that, I have been to many auditions and most of them are not going to result in you getting the part--it's not that you're not good enough, it's that you're not quite what they're looking for. They have a specific idea and if you don't look the part--it's not you. <br /><br />Like you said, perhaps you didn't appeal to the tastes of some of the judges with your piece. It doesn't mean it's a bad piece. <br /><br />Maybe there could be at least some sort of honours system within the competitions whereby even if you did not win but wrote a great piece, there would be a certain number of 'honourable mentions' that would get actual constructive feedback. Not everyone, just those who made the cut.Bradhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07240110535586338730noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7298312567843426829.post-48097276830470897902013-12-13T00:42:41.293-03:302013-12-13T00:42:41.293-03:30I have received comments from adjudicators before ...I have received comments from adjudicators before that I felt were not very insightful. I agree that interpreting a new composition does take a significant amount more time than assessing a performance of a piece from the standard repertoire. <br /><br />I also agree that it is important not to base your value of your own work on the result of a competition. There are just too many factors at play. <br /><br />In a way, I think that critique is something that the composer must seek out him/herself if it is desired. Given the time constraints of the competition adjudication process, I feel that less than useful comments are a commonality. <br /><br /><br />Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14120585752969074918noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7298312567843426829.post-47238139631502224642013-12-12T21:07:01.808-03:302013-12-12T21:07:01.808-03:30Continuing along the journey of composition compet...Continuing along the journey of composition competition themed blogs there is now a blog from the other side! A lot of these suggestions do seem a little obvious at first, but reading them described by a past adjudicator complete with little anecdotes of past situations makes them hit home a little more.<br /><br />The main part of my comment here though, will be echoing Mitchell's comment below. I recently received an adjudication back from a competition I did not win, that contained nothing but praise. I guess my immediate thoughts were, "so why did I not win then?". In the end, it really may always depend on the situation, and not always on the quality of the piece. Still, I would of liked to have some sort of feedback in the way of criticism. I think I'm always looking for some sort of criticism on my work, even if it wins something. I'm a pretty big believer in the idea of always being able to improve and progress. This occasion with this composition was especially irritating though, as I knew there was definitely things to be improved and I just wished the adjudicator had often some sort of suggestions!Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16347060177132863892noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7298312567843426829.post-24912048096714210612013-12-12T19:28:48.798-03:302013-12-12T19:28:48.798-03:30Responding to mention of the Arts and Letters Judg...Responding to mention of the Arts and Letters Judges, I have an anecdote: The second time I submitted a piece for the competition, I didn't win, and my score came back with nothing but praise. Though I appreciated the praise, I still wanted to win a competition, so the praise didn't really help me beyond "Do that more" and I still did not know what was really "wrong" with the piece. So I agree that it's probably not worth the while to overthink not winning. Sometimes you just don't win.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06802021014032324367noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7298312567843426829.post-9032457476368710382013-12-06T19:13:56.844-03:302013-12-06T19:13:56.844-03:30Regarding the first anecdote, that is a very inter...Regarding the first anecdote, that is a very interesting conundrum. If the winner -- who wrote a decent piece that stayed within the competition's guidelines -- had flouted the entry rules with the same ambivalence as the other composers, could his/her piece have been as strong as the others? As a total square when it comes to rules (not that you'd know it, considering how melodic my piece-without-a-tune turned out to be...), I would probably be that entrant who, if not for your stickler colleague, would be left sitting at home as a sulky grump after losing to someone who threw caution to the wind, guidelines be damned, and wrote a piece that exceeded the required difficulty level. <br /><br />The question of "wow factor" is an interesting one as well, as it goes back to the idea of playing with expectation that has been explored on this blog (and I'm sure in the minds of all composers). It doesn't seem as simple as a work just being virtuosic, but I think that's definitely a factor... and preferably, something new and bold while still being pleasing to the ears -- a tall order to fill! Another point to add to the conclusion of this topic: I feel like the temporal position of your piece in the adjudicator's day could also have potentially extreme consequences. I know from marking exams that I tend to go harder on the ones on top of the pile; then as I slowly realize that half the class is failing, I lighten up a bit -- oh okay, that was NEARLY the right answer, here have half a mark, I can tell that you've tried! And with papers, the opposite might be true. The more times I type out "c.s. this comma is unnecessary/should be a semicolon/you should start a new sentence," the less likely I am to let one slide. Adjudicators are people too, and they get hungry and cranky like the rest of us. It certainly isn't a reason to go making excuses for oneself for every loss (which would be detrimental to one's progress as a composer), but for those that have a tendency toward self-deprecation, it can lighten the load a little. <br />Michellenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7298312567843426829.post-69203332587075691152013-12-03T20:21:47.862-03:302013-12-03T20:21:47.862-03:30I was on a Manitoba Arts Council jury once, and th...I was on a Manitoba Arts Council jury once, and the arts council officer took notes on every decision we made so that he would be able to explain the decision to unsuccessful applicants, should they call or write him. I think many composers don't realize that you can do this, when it comes to commission grant applications — I certainly didn't before then — but I would highly recommend that any composer turned down by an arts council follow up with the appropriate officer to find out why they were turned down, and what they can do to improve their chances of being successful next time they apply.<br /><br />Composition prizes, however, are different; as a jury member, your job is to sift through all the scores and recordings to try to identify a winner, and since you can have over 100 submissions to evaluate, asking jury members to critique each non-winning piece would be very onerous. Getting a critique of your piece from judges <i>could</i> be valuable for the composers, of course. <br /><br />On the other hand, I have seen some of the critiques written by the Newfoundland Arts and Letters Awards judges, and I have never seen anything that was remotely insightful. This is not a criticism of A & L judges (I have been a judge for them); I think it is just a reflection of the fact that, in order to write a meaningful critique of a composition, you need to spend a significant amount of time with it, and there simply is not sufficient time to do this for most competition judges.<br /><br />For deeper insight into your compositions, don't be shy about asking composition professors or other successful composers. The worst that can happen is that we say no, probably because we are too busy, but if we say yes, I will suggest that you are more likely to get meaningful comments and suggestions than you would from adjudicators who only have about 5-10 minutes (if that) to spend looking at your piece.Clark Rosshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13153382609775397798noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7298312567843426829.post-44555551178805150612013-12-03T11:39:35.804-03:302013-12-03T11:39:35.804-03:30I have never been in a composition competition as ...I have never been in a composition competition as of today. However, I can imagine how awful it must feel to have a piece in a competition, have it lose, and not know why. I think all adjudicators should do what you have done, dr. Ross. It really would be nice to know that my piece had been highly considered even if it had lost!Evan Hartehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15092785130468963089noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7298312567843426829.post-54580584096256923572013-12-03T01:17:08.720-03:302013-12-03T01:17:08.720-03:30This comment has been removed by the author.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15754564116329560520noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7298312567843426829.post-68899043844078638282013-12-01T11:36:50.368-03:302013-12-01T11:36:50.368-03:30Its great to hear this from the other side (i.e. a...Its great to hear this from the other side (i.e. adjudicator). I've never entered a composition competition, but in all competitions it is true that, those who don't not win are often never told what the issues were, how to improve upon it, etc... <br /><br />This is an unfortunate learning curve because as you said, how can they improve to do better next time? Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12590508202115613255noreply@blogger.com