So, my son is playing in a music festival next week, and has been preparing two different pieces with the idea that his teacher would choose the one that sounds better for the festival. However, she has just told us she would like him to play both pieces. All of her other students who are participating are playing one piece, which from my understanding is the protocol, but the teacher said it would be fine for my kiddo to play two. However, she did also say she wasn't sure how he would then be scored--for each piece individually, as an average of the two, or some other way. This uncertainty is a bit disconcerting for me--should I take the cautious approach and just have him play one piece (he has performed multiple pieces at recitals but this will be his first adjudicated event and in a much larger venue with students from a variety of other studios), or should I just trust his teacher's judgment?

I would call up the teacher and let her know your concerns. Perhaps performing two pieces is perfectly acceptable, but the teacher doesn't have other students who *have* two pieces ready, so they are only doing one. You won't know if you don't ask though.

In events that I have adjudicated where the student plays two pieces, we are always told to award a score based on the better-played piece. Not all festivals run the same, though, so I'd have the teacher check with the festival chair.

If the teacher hasn't given you the Festival requirements, please request them. Perhaps they are posted on a website so that you can view them? They should clearly state what the student is required and expected to play. Also, what will disqualify students. If this were to occure at our Festival I would guess that the adjudicator would request that the student choose one piece before playing. But it's better to follow the rules. Good luck.

And make sure your decision does not put your son at any sort of disadvantage when being judged.

This.

There are many festivals/competitions in which the rules are not clearly stated or governed, and there's absolutely nothing the organizers could do about it, especially if they get a set of obstinate judges with personal agendas and prejudices.

Even if you get a clear answer from the teacher, don't enter the festival with any expectations. It's a mad mad mad mad mad mad world of piano competitions.

Thanks so much for your replies! Per your suggestions, my son's teacher is checking with the festival chair as to the rules (which do not appear to be clearly stated anywhere) and will hopefully have an official answer soon. If the chair says no to two pieces, then the kid and his teacher will have to pick one. To AZNpiano's point, however, even if the chair gives the go-ahead for two, the judge(s) may disagree, which is a risk I guess we'll take. At 5 years old, the kiddo just wants to share his music--he'd play every piece in his repertoire were he allowed--and I doubt he would care or even be aware if he were disqualified or otherwise penalized for performing two pieces rather than one. His parents, on the other hand... Hahaha, but we have to remember this is about him, not us, right? We won't let him deliberately flout the rules if there are any, but we also won't have him live in fear of the arbitrary.

That is a wonderful attitude!

Just keep in mind that competitions and whatnot are a whole other beast!

That's a good start. And never blame the kid for not winning anything. Winning is not what competitions are about--that part is haphazard and subjective. Doing one's best is what competitions are about.

Yes, exactly. And your son could play his piece perfectly and beautifully, and still not win. A lot depends on who else walks in the door and what they play. It may be a good idea for your son to ask him what his personal goals are for the performance - things he can control like his delivery of the piece(s), his attitude about performing, maybe even things like not stopping if he makes a mistake. Finding specific, qualitative goals that he can achieve will help give him a sense of accomplishment regardless of the judge's decision.

Update: The festival chair okayed two pieces! We requested and received a spot in the earliest grouping, and my son was actually the very first performer of the day, with his judge being the chair herself (so we knew he wouldn't be disqualified since it was she who approved the program). Despite, or perhaps due to, being the youngest person there (and probably the least experienced), the little guy thought it was super fun and wasn't nervous in the least. In fact, he was the only kid who even smiled before and after performing. I was actually surprised at how serious, gloomy, and even dour many of the performers' expressions were--and I'm not talking about while they were playing! Perhaps smiling is a huge breach of pre- and post-performance etiquette? Whatever the case, my son was happy and he showed it. The official results aren't in yet, but this much we already know--he really did do his best, and not only are his parents and teacher proud of him, but more importantly, he's proud of himself.

That is good. As long as he has done his very best, that is all you can hope for. Do let us know the results.

We'll receive the results with comments in about 2 weeks, but my son's teacher told us at his lesson just now that she had caught a glimpse of the judge's scoring sheet and the kiddo received a perfect score for at least one piece and possibly both! The teacher explained that all performers above a certain score will receive a rating of Superior and a trophy, while other groupings will receive medals, ribbons, or some such. It sounds like everyone will get something just for participating. I like the non-competitive aspect of this format!

No, it sounds like there's still a separation among kids. A truly non-competitive event wouldn't make any separation. Maybe the event is less competitive.

Sounds like everything went well.

Thanks, adultpianist and AZNpiano!

By the way, what is up with people photographing and/or videotaping children who do not belong to them? Creepy...

Also uncomfortable--being asked for your teacher's contact and rate information in the middle of a recital and where the asker's own teacher is also present!

If you don't want your child videotaped, then as a parent it's your job to go up to the parent and let them know they shouldn't record your child's playing. Otherwise, if it's another child, it's not your problem. Perhaps the parent requested it, or perhaps the one recording wanted to get the whole performance down for the child to remember it by. I don't necessarily find it creepy.



Did you say you'd rather not answer that or refer them directly to the teacher for the rate information? Perhaps their teacher has no more time slots available and they want the information for a friend to start up lessons. Or perhaps they are wanting to compare what they're paying their current teacher with a different one. It's your choice whether or not to answer. Personally, if I was approached about a teacher's info, I'd give out the phone # but say I'm not sure what the rate structure is and wouldn't want to misquote it, and suggest they talk to the teacher directly about that.

Hi Morodiene, I should have been more specific, sorry about that!

It was my child who was videotaped and then photographed, and neither at my request nor with my permission. In the first case, I didn't want to distract the kiddo during his performance by getting up from my seat, walking over several rows to the person videotaping him, and asking that person to stop. I guess I could have approached the videographer after my son's performance and asked for the video to be deleted, but that seemed overkill (plus I was too busy giving my little guy hugs . Also, the person who videotaped my child did not record the entire recital, which I didn't realize at the time because my son was the first performer of the day. I'm not sure how many children he recorded, but it was definitely not all of them. So, yes, I thought this was a little creepy.

The person who photographed my child used a flash right in the middle of his second piece. Luckily, the kiddo didn't get distracted from playing although he did blink a couple times. I didn't see who the photographer was (I only saw the flash), but even if I had, I would have faced the same situation as I did earlier with the videographer. I thought this was more annoying than creepy per se, but still weird since it wasn't his/her own kid (not that one would want to blind one's own kid with flash photography, regardless).

The person who asked me for the teacher's contact and rate information first asked who my son's teacher was, which I gladly answered. She then whispered that she thought her daughter's teacher was not very good and that she was looking to switch, so could I give her the other information. Feeling awkward, I merely said I didn't know the teacher's number off-hand (which is actually true) but that she could probably google it. I demurred on the rate question.

RE: videotaping performances

Enough parents have raised concerns about this issue so that several local festivals have either adopted the closed-audition procedure (no audience allowed) or the blanket "no videotaping allowed" rule (even for videotaping your own kids).

I think half the problem is paranoia, and the other half is liability. Event organizers don't want to be sued by paranoid parents. So now everybody is unhappy because no one is allowed to videotape anyone.

We do not allow videotaping at any of our events.