>Ellen Tepper used to tell the story of how she worked very hard
>on an O'Carolan piece for an Irish competition, to get the sound
>to where you couldn't tell if it was a Baroque or Irish piece,
>because she felt it might be true to the original style. In the
>competition, the judge marked her low because (you guessed !) he
>"couldn't tell if it was a baroque or Irish piece".
I was the other person in that competition. Ellen HAD worked
very hard on her piece and played it very well, but Billy
McComisky was the judge, and he feels that O'Carolan should
have a lilt and be danceable. So I played that way and won. It
was one judges' opinion. If we had played for another judge,
who knows?
>>I'm hoping to get back to harp in the next year or so when I
>>finish this damn dissertation, and I'm trying to figure out
>>where to concentrate among the different styles of harp music
>>that I love.
>>
>
>So play what you believe to be beautiful - if a judge at a
>Highland Games doesn't approve, you are in no way diminished
>by that opinion !
Absolutely. I know it is hard, but try to separate your ego
from the competition. Just play what you love, pretend to have
fun, and if you win it is a bonus. If you don't win you are in
NO way diminished. Everyone works hard to prepare for comps,
and that is worth a lot.
When I judge competitions, I am giving my opinion of whether
you are 1)communicating with music, 2)doing what I consider to
be scottish style. I write comments about why you do or don't
succeed, and try to give hints for ways to do it better,
according to my opinion. Billy Jackson, Alison Kinnaird, Darcy
Fair, Chris Ramsey, Tina Tourin all do the same. And we
disagree.
Cheering you on- Sue Richards