Klarinet Archive - Posting 000290.txt from 2004/04

From: "Lelia Loban" <lelialoban@-----.net>
Subj: [kl] Competitions and Juries
Date: Mon, 19 Apr 2004 09:11:03 -0400


Bryan Crumpler wrote,
>...I've even had ridiculous comments like "you need
>better clothes"... which honestly, don't do anything to
>improve my performance. I'm sorry I can't afford an
>Armani suit or a Perry Ellis tux to perform in...

It's hard to guess how that comment about clothes might have sounded, in
context, without seeing how you looked compared to other contestants. Was
it really a question of expensive, designer clothing vs. moderately-priced,
off-the-rack wear? If so, then shame on the judges. Then again, I'm
picturing a situation where most of the male contestants wear business
suits while one guy shows up in shorts, flip-flop sandals and a t-shirt
decorated with cartoon characters. As a professional, violinist Nigel
Kennedy has made a selling point out of his ultra-casual, maverick
appearance, but it's hard to fault judges who think that if a contestant's
clothing looks conspicuously and rebelliously different, the clothes
distract from the music. The contestant may look insecure -- trying too
hard to stand out. If the clothes imply, "I don't respect you enough to
dress appropriately," they may give the impression of an arrogant,
difficult personality who won't take direction or blend with an ensemble, a
legitimate consideration if the prizes include concert bookings. Or, of
course, the "wrong" clothes may just mean that the airline lost the luggage
or that the contestant guessed wrong when trying to figure out
badly-written contest guidelines.

>...the point in question is whether it's appropriate
>at an "international" competition to penalize someone for
>his/her playing style as being too connected to that of a
>different country or geographical area (i.e. "too European"
>or "too American" or "too Asian" whatever the case may
>be). I think any fair judge should be connected enough with
>styles around the world to appreciate the differences as
>opposed to being geographically biased.

That sounds like a legitimate beef to me, though it's so surprising for a
judge to stipulate to such a bias aloud that I wonder whether there's more
to the story -- something that would justify or at least excuse such a
comment. (For instance, what if the judge commented because the
*contestant* showed an inappropriate, cultural bias, for instance by
writing a cadenza in the style of his or her country's own folk music, out
of character with the required concerto?) But, assuming there's no more to
the story than the surface, if even a small minority of the judges weight
decisions with cultural or nationalistic bias, they politicize the jury, as
we've seen so often in ice skating, boxing, wrestling, diving and
gymnastics venues at the Olympics. I guess everybody's heard the story of
how Van Cliburn won at the Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow because
(according to rumor, anyway) the organizers decided it would be politically
advantageous for an American to win that year; while some other years, no
American stood any chance of placing higher than second. The amazing
thing, to me, is that the Tchaikovsky Competition retained such high
credibility with the public during the decades when this Cold War wrangling
apparently was the norm, according to the international news media.

Lelia Loban
E-mail: lelialoban@-----.net
Web site (original music scores as audio or print-out):
http://members.sibeliusmusic.com/LeliaLoban

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