Comments ~ 2008 April

More on adjudication; Looking for Alan Jenkins; Adjudicator swap; Makeover needed...

More on adjudication

It's interesting to read the ongoing debate about adjudication and National contests - I think both Elsa Brissenden and Stephen Williams have good suggestions worthy of further consideration.

In an ideal world (and one with more financial resource available to Australasian banding) three adjudicators would be the way to go: thus emulating the UK situation.

Failing that, I think there is merit in Mr William's suggestion for an adjudicator swap between grades after the first day sacred item and test, before the second day's own choice and stage march.

The idea of an adjudicator giving out the criteria they are going to use for assessment before the contest is an excellent one (Alan Morrison did this in New Zealand prior to the 2005 National Contest).

My own criteria for adjudicating a performance were published in the New Zealand Mouthpiece magazine quite a few years ago and would be known by most of the New Zealand bands I have adjudicated over the years.

Why weren't there any criteria sent out before the Australian Nationals? It's because we now have an Association of Brass Band Adjudicators based in the UK who have adopted Alan Morrison's criteria and made them the standard used in most contesting around the world.

Indeed 4barsrest Downunder recently published (and strongly promoted) an article by Brian Buckley about these criteria and adjudicating - so all bands should have known about this. See the website www.abbadjudicators.org.uk under the heading Performance Assessment Criteria (PAC) the following factors are listed:

These criteria, as initially presented by Alan Morrison at the 2006 AGM of ABBA and subsequently discussed by the Executive Committee of the ABBA, with Alan Morrison's involvement, have now been summarised and are shown below (in alphabetical order):

• Accuracy of pitch and rhythms
• Appropriate style, including the use of vibrato
• Balance and blend
• Colour and general band sound
• Control through dynamic and pitch range
• Dynamics, expression and shape
• Inspiration
• Musical understanding
• Precision and ensemble
• Quality of soloists
• Slips
• Tempi in relation to interpretation
• Tempi in relation to technique ­ i.e. too fast or too slow for
  comfort
• Tuning and intonation

The above aspects of the criteria apply to all sections of the band, including percussion. The ABBA Executive Committee fully support Alan Morrison's performance criteria and implementation by its Members. The detail will be under constant review.

I now use these criteria myself (these generic band skills apply to anything a band plays - in addition there is the extent to which the band successfully overcomes the challenges of the music it has chosen to play).

From now on these are essentially the criteria Brass Band Adjudicators will follow - unless a maverick judge is appointed for something who does not believe in these for some reason.

I am currently awaiting to hear the result of my own application to join this association as one of the few (anyone else out there?) Australasian members.  Professor Stephen Roberts (Brisbane 2008), Nigel Boddice (New Zealand 2007) and Simone Robello (New Zealand 2008) are all members of the Association of Brass Band Adjudicators and use these criteria. Mark Ford is the only current Australasian member.

In my opinion, all talk of Stephen Roberts bringing subjective criteria into play (whether he liked a piece of music or not) has been blown out of proportion. He struck me as a fine musician and a man of integrity. I am sure he explains his judgments on the recordings of contest performances.

Finally Stephen Williams is quite right when he says it is not the business of adjudicators to "pick the bands" from one day to the next.  At Brisbane in the B grade, I did not know which of the fifteen bands was the winning band, but I was making the point that I was fairly certain that the band I had placed first on the Saturday was the same band that then impressed me again on the Sunday because of its distinctive quality of sound and its excellence at meeting most of the criteria above.

Quite simply, one band stood out from the other fourteen in the section and I backed my own musical experience and judgment to voice my opinion that it was the same band on both days (and it turned out I was right). By the way, I did not know it was the New Zealand band and I had never heard Pelorus Trust Wellington play at anytime in the past before this contest. I had no association with any of the B grade competing bands and I was able to bring complete ignorance (!) and impartiality to my role as adjudicator.
With best wishes to all in banding downunder!

Yours
Peter Adams
Senior Lecturer
The Department of Music
The University of Otago
Dunedin, New Zealand

Looking for Alan Jenkins

Whilst fiddling about on the internet, trying to find a recording of Ossian Ellis singing Welsh folk songs (not to be found thus far), I had the sudden inspiration to google up Mr. Alan Jenkins, who had introduced me to this fine musician when Alan and I worked together in West Palm Beach, Florida, USA.

During that one year 1977- 1978, Alan conducted the girls’ choir at Rosarian Academy and I was his accompanist.

I also accompanied Alan when he played his doctoral recital on the tuba at Florida Atlantic University in 1978.

Is there a way you could put me in touch with Alan? It would be lovely to say hello 30 years later. Thanks in advance.

Sincerely 
Susan Daughtrey (formerly Susan Gansz)

4BRDU Reply:
Please email us here du.comments@4barsrest.com if you can help Susan 

Adjudicator swap

Further to Elsa’s excellent letter I’d like to point out a comment made by Peter Adams (adjudicator) at the B Grade results. He kept referring to “the winning band” and I’m pretty sure he would not have been informed who actually won until the marks were read out. He went on further to say words to the effect that he was pretty sure the band he placed highest on the Saturday was the same band he placed highest on the Sunday. He indicated that he picked the playing of the Own Choice and Stage March as the same band that he’d placed highest for the Test and Hymn.

Surely it is not the role of any adjudicator to try to pick the bands from the day before? The performances are supposed to stand on their own otherwise you may as well have each band just play all 4 pieces in a row. 

Consider the idea of different adjudicators for the 2 on-stage sections. Maybe one adjudicator does the A Grade Hymn and Test and the B Grade Own Choice and Stage March and vice versa for the other adjudicator?

One way of leveling out the playing field a bit while we wait for 3 adjudicators to be appointed for each grade!

Stephen Williams
Sutherland Shire Brass

Makeover needed

Dear 4BRDU team
 
I read the A Grade Nationals retrospective with great interest. I will come clean instantly and admit I have a great musical bias towards the compositions of Johann de Meij, but that aside, nothing mistakes the fact I personally found the Dalewool performance of Extreme Makeover outstanding. I watched every single A grade band on the Sunday and it was the one performance aside from Gunnedah and Waratah that really grabbed me. It had a similar effect on those sitting around me at the time, as one person commented: "geez, they really pulled something out of their a****s to play that well!"
 
Dalewool deserve another chance at showing the Australian banding public just how well they know and played that work. Either at the Australasian Open or Nationals 2009 Extreme Makeover should be the Test. If it was good enough to be Test at the European Brass Band contest of 2005 it's good enough to be the Test piece at a major contest here in Australia.
 
If Dr Roberts' comments that Extreme Makeover is quite one dimensional are to be taken seriously, it calls into question the musical credibility of the EBBA Music Commission that sat at the time of the 2005 European Brass Band contest. One must bear in mind those sitting on the EBBA Music Commission chose a Test piece to test the best of the best in Europe, not regional or National level. One would think they would give rigorous consideration as to whether a work such as Extreme Makeover would be one dimensional or not to warrant being the Test piece for such an important event. The Test piece of arguably the most prestigious banding competition out there, no less. The very definition of Test in the context of banding - not to mention its purpose within the set up of a four piece banding contest; hardly lends itself towards being one dimensional.
 
Three professional opinions (EBBA Music Commision) vs one professional opinion (Dr Roberts).
 
Such an example highlights that the A Grade contest at the Australian Nationals will continue to lack credibility until additional adjudicators are appointed. Three would be ideal, to assist weeding out such subjectivity. If banding is to grow in this country to the level it should be at, there should be no room for adjudicators to be making comments about a piece not allowing a band to play to its potential. Discussing the potential of a band is for the pub, it is the role of the adjudicator to adjudicate the performance before them in the here and now.
 
Own choice is that - own choice. Let's celebrate the fact a band had the courage to take on such a work in the first place. If we are going to be judging whether an own choice selection suits a band, there needs to be parameters around which to base that judgement beyond whether an adjudicator believes a work to be one dimensional or not. In light of this maybe it is time for Australian banding to explore introducing an own choice set list for Nationals. Then, if the works on the list do not suit a particular adjudicator's artistic sensibility for an A Grade level contest, he or she could politely refuse the invitation of the contest organisers in the first place.
 
An own choice set list is a cost effective solution. Whilst seemingly limiting bands artistically, this is afterall a contest, not an entertainment free for all. In terms of standard, it would be very clear: this is what we expect A grade bands to be playing.

The other option is not unlike the umpires in the AFL or NRL, where they release pre-season a DVD of rule interpretation before a game is played. Maybe it's time for adjudicators to release a statement of expectation/interpretation prior to the contest? Or for the NBCA to release a very clear performance criteria rubric that adudicators must adhere to when giving out marks in terms of musicality, ensemble, balance, intonation etc., that are available for bands - and the banding public - prior to the contest. Not only would it aid transperancy and clarify expectations, it would be a fantastic educational tool for bands. In this respect the adjudication set up of the Melbourne School Bands Festival for their senior sections is light years ahead of the NBCA: three adjudicators minimum, clear marking criteria, written comments and audio comments as performance feedback. At the end of the day that's what we're striving for: transperancy and clear expectations to reward bands on merit.
 
In light of this I applaud the appointment of Prof David King and James Curnow to adjudicate at the 2009 contest and sincerely hope the issue of how and where marks at Nationals contests are distributed per selection - hymn, test, own choice, march; is the next major issue relating to adjudication that is dealt with by those governing banding in this country.
 
Anything less would be quite one dimensional in approach and not allow banding in Australia to realise its potential, severely undermining the credibility of the movement. Australian banding cannot afford this.

Regards
Elsa Brissenden
Formerly member Hawthorn Band 2002-2005
(currently unaligned)