Music teachers get cheated out of one of the exciting moments in education: that of meeting all the new students during the first day of school. If any of you have taught other subjects you know the feeling of seeing all of those new faces in the classroom and wondering what each individual will be like. The reason I say this is that most of you either have returning students (we hope) or have already met with the incoming students from the feeder schools during recruiting trips to their campuses. If they are not known by name, certainly the instrument each plays is mentally recorded. Pretend they are all new to you and your program and you might be surprised at the results.

A number of years ago I tried an experiment the first day of school. I wrote a grade for each new student on a piece of paper and filed it away. This grade was based on attitude only, because I had not heard anything about them, had not heard them perform musically and did not see anything recorded about them. The next time I looked at that piece of paper was after I had issued the final grade in that course. Then I compared the two grades. Amazing! Almost all of them were identical. The few that differed were as a result of excessive absences due to illnesses or other unique situations. Attitude – it’s more important than anything else. If the student is brilliant or super-talented all the better, but without the right attitude they will never be at the top of their game. Think about it as you greet those eager young musicians and make sure that your attitude is a great role model.

On-line Forms

Thanks to Steve Hendee, our new Webmaster, for creating three interactive adjudication forms.

• “Adjudicator Evaluation Form” – directors, your excuses are gone. Now all you have to do is go to our website, click on “Adjudication” on the top bar, then click on “Adjudication Evaluation Form-Now Online!” Fill in the blanks for each adjudicator who adjudicated your groups and click on “submit form.” It will be sent via email directly to the Adjudication Director. Easy! No envelopes, no stamps, no mailing, and no excuses. Submit a form for every adjudicator for every one of your groups for every festival. They are very important. Thanks in advance.

• “Head Adjudicator Festival Report” – to be used by the Head Adjudicator. This can be accessed the same way and sent directly to the Adjudication Director.

• “Adjudication Trainee Performance Evaluation” – to be used by Mentors in the same manner.

Points of Emphasis for Adjudicators – Taped Recorded Comments

The bulk of concerns voiced by directors this past festival season evolved around taped comments (or in many cases, lack thereof). As adjudicators are not writing comments, the tape is the only communication between the evaluator and the director. If it is not a clean, clear recording it is useless. Although Portable Cassette Recorders are moving towards the eight-track grave, we do not see ourselves changing in the near future. Cost is one reason. The field of electronics is evolving quickly. When the time is right and the cost permits we will find another way to communicate our comments to the director, but until then all adjudicators must have good equipment and use it properly.

There are still good Portable Cassette Recorders (using “standard cassette” tapes) available for under $50. Go to: Sonystyle.com (then under “MP3 & Portable Electronics” pull-down and click on “voice recorders” and then click on “Buy Standard Cassette”) to find the Pressman Standard Cassette Recorder (TCM-400DV) and others. The first will do quite nicely for adjudication purposes.

Practice – would you take a musical group to a festival without practicing? NO! Then practice your performance. Turn your household musical source (or your own performance group if you are actively working with one) to a reasonable volume level. Now, turn on your tape recorder and make comments while the music is playing. Then, listen to your tape. Evaluate your own performance. Was it “superior” It should be?

When you get all of your desired settings (volume, speed, etc.) tape over the controls so you won’t accidentally change them.

Write out a standard introduction to your taped comments that you will use on all of your tapes. Encourage the director to complete the “Adjudicator Evaluation” as described above.

Our Adjudication Workshop at the Annual Winter Conference will be devoted to the use of the tape recorder in adjudication.

Notes on Adjudication (see new Handbook for details)

No ratings are to be given more than one level apart. A problem can arise when the Sight-Reading adjudicator sends the rating in separate from the performance ratings. It is up to the Festival Headquarters to catch this and return all forms for that group to the Head Adjudicator for correction. Likewise, if one performance adjudicator lowers the rating of a group because one musical score is missing, the Head Adjudicator must catch this before submitting the forms to Headquarters. Remember – once ratings are publicly posted they cannot be changed, so everyone, please make sure everything is correct.

Some confusion was realized when enforcing the “Required Rating Penalties.”

• “No electronic devices” does not include electric basses or electric pianos when they are called for in the score (a bass is a bass and a piano is a piano). This rule was added to the handbook to prohibit the use of tuning devices, synthesizers and the like during performance.

• If only one musical score is missing, only the adjudicator without the score should lower the rating. If there are no scores, all three have to lower the rating.

• “Performers not regular members of the group” include parents, teachers, other students, etc. (this does not apply to Solo-Ensemble and Choral Festivals when the accompaniment is only that and not an integral part of the composition).

• Adjudicators are encouraged to discuss the problem with the director BEFORE the performance begins. Often it can be corrected prior to the performance. If not, the director has the option of performing “For Comments Only” with a group that does not meet the requirements of the festival.

An adjudicator MUST hear the live performance of a group if he or she is to give a clinic to that group. No exceptions! There may be some instances when the same adjudicator gives a group a rating in performance and then travels with that group to give a rating in sight-reading. This is not ideal and should be avoided, when possible. The major causes of these problems come from the site host’s scheduling incorrectly.

Adjudicators should not use metronomes. There is nothing sacred about tempo markings.

I cannot stress enough the need for all members of CMEA Bay Section to read the Handbook each year. Adjudicators, your role is high profile, so you more than anyone, must know the rubrics and procedures of our festivals before you begin your task of adjudication. And REMEMBER: Bring your Handbook with you to all assignments!

Adjudicator Assignments

Adjudicator packets will be mailed out in early September. Adjudicators should complete all required forms and return them to the Adjudication Director prior to October 1^st. Complete all questions asked, leaving no blank spaces. Assignments will be made via email again this year.

Assignments are made on a rotating basis, determined by your availability and the needs of the festival. An attempt is always made to have adjudicators from a variety of educational levels assigned to each festival (such as a college professor, a high school teacher, a middle school teacher, a private teacher and/or a professional musician). Let me try to explain the “Rotation” concept:

• Adjudicator “Pat” marks availability for a specific date.

• In the rotation process of assigning people for the festivals on that date, it is “Pat’s” turn to go to Santa Rosa as a sight-reading judge.

• However, “Pat” has marked an unwillingness to adjudicate sight-reading and/or travel that far from home.

• This is considered by the Adjudication Director as a “turned-down” assignment for that festival. The next assignment “Pat” will receive is when all adjudicators have gone through the rotation. There may or not be another assignment for “Pat” that season, depending on availability and areas of expertise.

The same applies if your turndown an assignment on a date you indicated you were available. Please, keep your availability current.

Thanks to all who work so hard to make the CMEA Bay Section the model for truly educational music festivals. You should all feel very good about your part in this worthy endeavor.

Orrin C. Cross III

Adjudication Director