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Remember, this statement in the OP is 3rd degree hearsay. On the other hand, if a judge actually said that, then I would agree.

Hakki is right that these are competitions, not fifth grade recitals. Nonetheless, if a judge actually had to control themselves to avoid laughing at a competitor in almost any sort of event, I would conclude that they were the kind of person that I would avoid in life. I would indeed judge the judge and find them wanting in basic humanity.

I so well remember the piano competition judge ...
his name was Charlie ... with a first name of Ripe.

Summary, IMO:

If he said it quite that way, he's a jerk.

Did he really say it quite that way? I'd guess not.

You do realize that you have just repeated what I said two posts above, but with less precision. Oh well.

Did you realize you had basically repeated what I'd said before but with even more precision?

I certainly understand it is not a middle school dance. Is it not equally possible that the competitor has made no such claim, and is there to see where they stand? (Especially in an amateur competition, if I remember the OP correctly?) Maybe they haven't quite reached such an arrogant/insistent stage in their career as to outright suggest they are better than everyone else. Maybe they're there to honestly find out? In such a case, a simple score should suffice, and not the rudeness and arrogance of distatesful remarks or behaviors from judges who are supposed to be professionals.

I don't know.. maybe it's because I've judged at the world level in other endeavors, but I would suggest to your comment about judge's priorities that neither is improper and unprofessional behavior. If I were running the competition, I would throw out any judge who laughed at a competitor and ensure they never returned until they could conduct themselves professionally. (And I have competed in, won, judged, and run world-class competitions.)

To me, that kind of immature behavior lessens the quality and professionalism of the competition, if nothing else.


While I would disagree with the judge's thoughts, I don't think something like this can be avoided, and I would certainly consider it higher class than outright expressing immaturity. So, in that respect, I can agree with this, even though it still irks me that someone would actually think it.

Human nature is human nature. My students make mistakes occasionally that I find funny, not because I have no sympathy for their position, but because it's just a natural instinct to find the pratfalls of others funny. Like I said, it's how you actually behave in spite of your thoughts that determines the sort of person that you are.

Several posters seemed to have overlooked that the judge making the comment and the other judges in question did not laugh at the competitors. The judge did mention that some of the performances were so bad that the judges had to restrain themselves from laughing. In other words any behavior, if bad, was in their thoughts and not their actions.

Their actions necessarily included their vocalizing their thoughts. Had they not done such a thing, then their actions would fall in line with debrucey's comment, which I agree with. However, once they started vocalizing their thoughts, they were no longer restraining, but finding an outlet.

The point was they didn't laugh at the competitors. What they thought about or expressed afterwards to non competitors seems like a different level completely.

The OP's first post seems somewhat unclear but what seems inappropriate to me was that the OP's teacher passed on some comments from a judge that were not mean to be passed on to students. Why the teacher did this is unclear but it seems like the OP's teacher was the one acting inappropriately.

pianoloverus:

Thank you so much. You just took the word from my mouth and saved me typing all this.

Derulux:

I don't have much to add to pianoloverus's post.

I totally agree with Pianoloverus! The comment was inappropriate, most likely made in confidence...but should never have been passed on and most certainly not to one's student!

....which IMO is part of the high chance of it not being accurate.

Someone who would do something like this is probably someone who tends not to get such things quite right and/or can't help adding his/her own embellishment or fantasy.

My teacher passed this info to my friend because he wanted to make a point to my friend who insisted on playing something that is beyond her technical ability. My friend told my teacher that she does want to play some NON GIRLY pieces for the competition that she is going to enter (Note this is her own terms for sweet pieces, she called those pieces girly pieces). My teacher said "You'd better play girly pieces well than play bombastic pieces badly", and then he told her about what this judge said about the amateur piano competition that this judge judged.

The judge did not laugh during the competition. This judge has the right to share to his/her friend what in his/her mind, and it is good to know what judges thought during the competition so that we can plan accordingly. I personally like to know the real opinios rather than sugar coated opinions.

More unwise judgment, IMO. Not a good way to try to make the point, and doesn't bolster the chances of its full accuracy.

You may think that way. But it is very effective. My friend changed her mind about trying to learn bombastic pieces. If we really pay attention to the older contestants who passed the first round, most of them played sweat and girly pieces, but they played beautifully.

I myself have a lot of temptation to play more difficult pieces, but after hearing this judge opinion, I think I will have bigger chance to pass the first round if I play easy pieces but play them very well. If I did not hear this harsh opinion from this judge, I will still try to play difficult pieces, and go nowhere.

BTW before continuing to criticize the teacher, we shouldn't forget (as I had) that our idea of what the teacher said is second-hand. We all know that what the JUDGE supposedly said was second-hand -- but really it was 3rd hand (as PianoDad said).

Here's the chain:
Ronald says that his friend said that the teacher said that the judge said.

I will ask my teacher this coming Saturday what the judge really said. I will let you know what the judge really said. I do not think it can be inaccurate, it was just a simple message. But let's wait.

Cool -- then it'll only be 2nd hand!

Ronald, realize that something still could be getting lost in the transmission. But it might be interesting to see if something changes in the once-less-removed rendition.

Heresay aside, I have never been tolerant of unprofessionalism.. whether that unprofessionalism takes place in front of the student’s face or not. I still think it is highly immature of the judge, whether it’s laughing in the student’s face, or boasting later about wanting to laugh in a student’s face. I don’t see how that can be considered anything other than immature and unprofessional.

I do think the teacher needs to know their student, and what type of comments the student can handle. However, as a teacher, if I felt the student could handle it, I would certainly express the judge’s sentiments to the student, and then let the student know that that kind of attitude is completely unacceptable. The judge was wrong, and I wouldn’t want my student or anyone else adopting or modeling that behavior in any environment.

As a teacher, I would also bring up the judge’s sentiments to the people who organize and run the competition. I am certain they would not want their competition represented in such a way, whether that representation is “in confidence/private” or not.