When competitions aren’t fair. . .

[hannah-anderson]

Hello all,

Recently, I played in a concerto competition finalist round. I was the only harpist, the other 6 finalists were pianists and string players. All of us were high school students from the Southeastern region of the US. The playing field was fairly evenly matched, as all of us are serious musicians and we’d already come through the preliminary round.

I played Saint-Saens Morceau de Concert memorized with accompaniment, and my parents recorded my performance. It was amazing. I was very, very happy with my performance which is highly unusual for me because I’m very perfectionistic about my music. I’ve listened to different recordings by professional harpists of this lovely concert piece, and I was so pleased that my performance sounded (almost, not completely, for sure!) like theirs. I had several compliments on my stage presence as well. So, overall, I felt confident that I’d done my best. I resolved that no matter the judges’ final decision, I’d be happy because I knew that I had put forth my best work.

I received the judges’ comments and decision. I did not place, which, as I said before, is completely fine with me. What made me wonder, though, was the comments. I knew all of these judges were fantastic professional musicians and I have the highest respect for them and their work. But their comments were insulting. . .not just to me, but to my instrument, the piece of music, the editor, and my sense of musicianship. They showed a complete lack of knowledge of the harp and a disinterest in my performance. The judges were primarily pianists, and I think that’s why they thought the piece was so easy and my performace beneath their notice.

In the end, pianists won the competition. I know these kids too and they are worthy of all the prizes they’ve won. I’m happy for them, and I’m happy to accept my finalist standing.

It just feels so wrong. . . the whole thing. . .not just the comments but the attitudes and the entire situation. So sorry if this comes off as a prideful and childish rant!! I’m trying to learn to be gracious and thankful 🙂 I’m wondering if any other harpists have had this experience and what you think about it.

Maybe its just like one of my harp teachers said: “Sure, a harpist can win a competition. If it’s a harp competition!” But I’d love to be that person, someday, who will FINALLY get the music world to recognize that the harp is a beautiful, difficult, complex instrument that can hold its own on the competition floor with anything else.

[Sherj DeSantis]

Hi Lynn, I’m sorry to hear that you are disappointed, but please take pride in the fact that you know you played well. You said your parents recorded the session. Have your own teacher evaluate it and see if she is in agreement/disagreement with the comments. Also, take it to a professional harpist that you respect, other than your own teacher, and ask them for an evaluation. You can post it to You Tube and let others hear it. I am sure you will receive constructive and positive feedback. I would love to hear you play, and I’m sure many other individuals at Harp Column would. And you are right in that the world is not always fair. Don’t let that hinder you in the future. All the best, Sherj

[hannah-anderson]

Thank you so much. I’m definitely taking the recording to my teacher, and I’m considering posting it here as well for you all to listen to (if I can figure out how to get it from an iphone to a post!). I’m going to be tackling another concerto competition this fall and I’m truly excited . . . the world may not be fair, but I’m glad that audiences are still getting a chance to hear the harp and I’m happy to have the experience as well. I’m learning, and sometimes that involves learning to swallow my pride 🙂

[Janis Cortese]

🙁 IMO, either people should only judge the instruments they play, or never judge the instruments they play. That way, it’s even.

On one of the piano boards, a person once mentioned playing a harp at a competition where the pianist judge knocked them down for — I am not making this up — using too much pedal. o_O

ETA: Or was that here? I can’t remember …

[kreig-kitts]

Mixed instrument competitions are very tricky and probably impossible to judge fairly, especially if the panel includes judges who play an instrument represented in the competition. Besides possible partiality, they know the repertoire better, as well as specific concerns with that instrument. Harp is probably at a disadvantage in such competitions, because some of the mechanics, such as pedaling and placing, can mean that harp doesn’t allow the acrobatic runs to the degree that other instruments do, and what is difficult on a harp might not sound difficult to a listener who doesn’t know the instrument well. On the other hand, some fairly simple harp effects can really wow a non-harpist, which is why we all love playing Chanson Dans la Nuit for non-harpists.

Anybody wishing to lose all faith might check out the following story, on a study where people guessed the winners of a competition more accurately by viewing silent videos of the contestants than by actually hearing them.

@http://www.wqxr.org/#!/blogs/wqxr-blog/2013/aug/20/study-judging-music-competitions-looks-matter-most/

[Saul Davis Zlatkovski]

The best thing is to either swear off all competitions, or enter three more for every one you don’t win.

[Sylvia]

I just want to add that if you made the piece look easy, that in itself means you played well.

[barbara-kraichy–2]

I had a student who competed in a competition for all instruments, but in the string category. Like the competition Lynn was in, the judge was a pianist for the finals. My student had won the string category; however, the pianist said she used too much pedal!! The funny thing is that to the amazement of everyone, the overall winner was a RECORDER player who won over the pianists, voice and Brass.
I figured something was up. Could it be who you know?

[mae-mcallister]

Can I just add that I have experienced similar attitudes in competitions as a recorder player? I’ve been fighting my entire life against the perception that a recorder is a child’s instrument and have been in many chamber music competitions where you can visibly see the judges and audience rewiring their brain the moment my recorder trio started to play, from “oh my god this is going to be awful” to “what the…?!?!?!” Anyway, my sympathies. I completely agree with Janis, the judges show either play all of or none of the instruments.

Barbara, I have told your “need more pedal” anecdote to quite a few of my musician friends and we all have a good laugh:) Can I just point out that there is no good reason why a recorder player can’t/shouldn’t win a competition? Everything Lynn said about the harp applies to the recorder too…

[Janis Cortese]

Most competitions allow one to speak to introduce oneself and one’s piece, so I wonder if it wouldn’t be permissible to take 30 seconds before starting to play to just explain to the judges how a pedal harp works. Not a long disquisition, just, “My name is Mary Jones, and I’m going to play Bocsha Etude Number Whatever for you. By the way, for people who are unfamiliar with how a pedal harp works, these pedals at the bottom aren’t sustain pedals like a piano has. They are how a harpist changes key.” Then maybe pluck a D string, and show how it changes the sound from Db to D# before diving into the piece.

[Deette Bunn]

I had a similar thing happen to me in college. I had the high score out of 100 from 3 of the judges, and a big, fat ZERO from the fourth judge. It was the only way to make sure his student placed in the top 3. He didn’t even give me a point for showing up. I learned a lot of things from that experience that I have carried with me over the years.
My daughter, also a harpist, ran into the same thing you did in a high school competition. The judges were absolutely clueless.
I now teach at the college level, and I do my best to educate, educate, educate other instrumental and vocal professors, conductors, and composers about the harp. Realize that life isn’t fair and then keep your chin up, keep working hard, and you’ll get the recognition you deserve.

[HankNYC]

I went thru this in college many years ago. I made it to the finals of a national competition held in Los Angeles. I was a senior in college, competing with a 12 yr old in the finals. I played the Salzedo Ballade, Faure Impromptu etc and I know she played La Source Hasselmans. All of the judication sheets were in pen – virtuoso playing, excellent across the board. All of the #s were in pencil. There were multiple erasures on the numbers. I was scored 85/100 – how can you be a virtuoso and it be 85! The 12 year old won – she was also a local girl.

I took it that youth was in. But that was the last competition I messed with. Just not worth the amount of work for that kind of slap in the face for me.

Previous to that competition I did another one where the judges bashed the edition that I used more than my performance. And I found it curious that the edition that I used was published, while one of the winners used an unpublished transcription from her teacher. They did not specify the edition to use. I will also say this, part of this was purely political – I was the only Salzedo player at this comp and was advised that it was not worth even bothering. I naively thought it would be remotely fair. The comments were not useful, and when compared with the winners – most were left wondering what they were looking for.

I heard horror stories of some competitions where the judges clearly cheated even to go so far as to use a mirror to distract the performer.

If they truly want it to be about the music, they should do them like orchestra auditions – usually first rounds are behind a screen and you don’t speak at all.

[Saul Davis Zlatkovski]

I have only done a couple. One, when I got copies of the judge’s comments, one used the fact that there was one audible page turn (because the engineer wouldn’t let me do it over) to say I wasn’t ready for a concert career. I knew her handwriting, too. When a competition only uses past winners as judges, any political bias set up in the beginning becomes institutionalized.
The other, I played the most advanced program, not with perfect energy, as my driver showed up late and I couldn’t warm up fully. But the attitude of the director made it clear he was not interested in me, and they went with a young Curtis graduate who was pretty and played easy pieces with a certain degree of flair. The president had chosen me as one of three finalists over some extremely tough competitors. I was shocked I was chosen over one of my former classmates.
So, that is why I put little stock in winning competitions and would never choose a performer based on that kind of credential. On all instruments, I tend to find them to be boring interpreters. Competent performers, but music is not athletics.
Another example of musical politics: after I finished my master’s, I considered entering the DMA program, and the chairman of both the harp and Doctoral programs (now deceased) told me I wasn’t suitable. She had a graduate student who was unqualified and who was nearly not awarded a degree after a very unsubstantial recital. This chair ended up losing her job. So using a position for political purposes can cut both ways, though perhaps not often enough.

[Saul Davis Zlatkovski]

Is it unfair when prizes aren’t awarded? There was a competition where that happened and a judge told me the primary reasons were insufficient musicality and far too many memory slips, ie., people were well under-prepared. One should not leap to conclusions, such as assuming it was political. Some competitions go to great lengths to make sure that plotting by judges is not possible. And I am not talking about the competition you might assume I am talking about. The only assumption one should make is that the winner was the winner, not necessarily the best, and the losers are not losers, and may be the best, or the best never entered in the first place.
One of the reasons I started the Harp Festival of Philadelphia was to provide a venue for performers who were not necessarily winners of competitions, but merely great artists of the harp. I’m not sure any of them won any competitions.

[Janis Cortese]

Don’t know if any of you guys have seen this video, but it made the rounds on the piano boards a while back:

Jon Nakamatsu is a previous winner of the Van Cliburn competition who has a fairly nice career for himself now, and has some interesting things to say about losing competitions and being a “loser.”

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