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Last week, I had a discussion with a friend of mine who is going to join an amateur piano competition. She wanted to play Chopin Nocturne Op. 48 No.1. By the way, she and I have the same teacher. Originally, our teacher allowed her to play this pieces, however, two weeks later, he said "You should not use this piece for a competition". My friend was kind of not happy, after spending two weeks of her practicing time. Later, my teacher said "Do you want to know what the amateur piano competition judge said?"

This particular judge said "It was painful to listen to these amateur pianists, WE often needed to control ourselves so that we would not laugh during the performances". By the way, this particular judge took lesson from my teacher.

Do you agree with this judge opinion? I personally do not agree, most of the contestants played decently. Most were not outstanding, but very decent and not laughable. The top players were very good. I love to hear opinions of those who had listened to amateur piano competitions.

I am very harsh and critical of people who say things like this, so I would very much like to hear that judge perform...

someone like this does not need to be judging. Why are they doing it anyway? Just for a power trip?

Of course I agree.

Sometimes I watch my 2010 Paris performance just to laugh.
LOL, it is still on my YouTube page.

I don't think a judge should say anything like that. How did he play was he when he was their age?
Laughing at one's past performances is probably a different thing.

Low-quality judge. Low-quality person.

I'd assume that someone judging a competition would have some idea of the general level of the participants and know what to expect. Maybe a few people got into the competition who shouldn't have or maybe there were simply no requirements or audition tape. Since the OP says nothing about the competition it's impossible to guess how well or poorly most of the participants played.

I've observed the IKIF master classes at Mannes for more than 10 summers and have seen a wide variety of ability levels(most of these pianists are not amateurs although a few are). I've only heard one performance out of several hundred that I personally might call laughable, and although the teacher was almost laughing at some points during the performance she was, to her credit, very kind and helpful to the pianist afterwards. So maybe more the usual number of these unqualified pianists(or pianists attempting pieces too far above their level) somehow got into the particular competition mentioned by the OP this past year.

Or maybe this particular judge is just rather nasty?

What judge? Someone from a particular known competition?


Yes.

The amateur competitions have a wide range of levels of players, including some people who aren't very good. But to laugh at?? I think that's a very unusual reaction. I think the most common view is that the overall level is surprisingly high, although I think the occasional comments that they/we are "as good as professionals" is overblown except for just a very few of the contestants.

If that is this person/judge's opinion he should not be judging Amateur Competitions. Amateurs try their hearts out and are really putting it on the line just to be there. If nerves take over it can be dreadful....but NEVER does one laugh when someone is trying to do their best!

One more thought...the screening for these competitions needs to be intelligent and selective. I have witnessed a few people that made it into competitions that were not up to the level they should have been. It seems the Competitions really want/need the money and sometimes just take in every applicant, qualified or not.

I think there is a fundamental difference between my understanding of the OP's question and the rest of the replies.

Although OP asked about this judge's opinion, when I said I agreed, I was merely trying to say that these kind of things can happen in amateur competitions.



Also, I took this sentence as a fact but not as the opinion of the judge. He was simply saying what has happened actually. There might be times that anybody can have a hard time to control him/herself. It is just spontaneous.

So, I think, comments like, "low person", "low judge" etc. are way too harsh and, irrelevant.

Lets face it. If you are someone who is accustomed to watching professional artistic ice skaters, you might have a hard time controlling yourself while watching amateur ice skaters who are falling here and there unexpectedly during their performances.

I never judged a piano or ice skating competition, but I did spend the last 15 years judging martial arts competitions. I've seen just about everything happen in the ring, but in 15 years, I never got the urge to laugh once. That person is out there trying their best. They deserve better than someone, especially a judge who is supposed to be professional, laughing at them.

That said, I agree with you that I have laughed at myself many times, but then, I have never been particularly kind to myself, either.

And this. It is being stated continually. But lets remember that this is not a primary school prom. It is a competition. The competitor has a claim that he/she is better than others. Trying your best is not an excuse. You have to be prepared and compete accordingly. Otherwise do not enter the competition in the first place. Sorry but mercy is not a judge's priority.

My friend told my teacher that she is tired of girly pieces (sweet and slow pieces). She wants something bombastic. But my teacher wants to tell my friend that it is better to play pieces that we can handle, rather than playing difficult pieces that she will fall apart.

I think it ill-advised for your teacher to share this comment. People say all sorts of stuff that gets weirdly distorted when taken out of context. Who knows how the comment was meant, or if those were even the actual words said...I am doubtful.

I thought all the same. And I would offer that when things like this get reported 2nd or 3rd hand, they rarely capture what really happened. I don't mean it's usually flat-out false -- just that it doesn't capture what really happened.

But if it does capture what really happened, I agree with the judgments that have been offered about the judge.

I don't think there is anything wrong with thinking that, but he probably shouldn't have actually said it.

Anyone who judges an amateur competition is going to hear some amateur performances, marred by wrong notes, unorthodox interpretations, memory lapses, bouts of nerves, bad pedaling, and so on. Such performers cannot be weeded out of the competition easily because their biography and their application CD can all be wonderful, and either hide these problems, or not show what can happen to the performer if they are having a bad day.

The audience tends to feel very uncomfortable during these performances. Any amateur who has performed publicly can empathize with what the pianist is going through. It is certainly nothing to laugh at, since many performers in that position feel like they humiliated themselves. You can tell them afterward how brave they were to get out there and perform for an audience, but it doesn't help them much.

I think it is fair for the judge to feel uncomfortable for such performers, and in my experience having read quite a lot of the jury comments that are given to performers in this situation, the comments are appreciative of the good things the performer did, they do not harp on the mistakes, and they give helpful advice for the pianist. They encourage the pianist to continue practicing and performing publicly.

It's certainly possible there is a judge who feels no sympathy or empathy for the performers they are judging. They don't belong on a jury for an amateur competition. And I certainly wouldn't want to be taking lessons from them.

I've never had the chance to listen to an amateur piano competition, but I've participated in a few. I find that I never want to bring an overdone piece to competition. They've heard too much of it. They have an opinion of it. Try taking the lesser beated path when it comes to choosing a piece for competition.

As for the judge's verdict, what was he expecting at a amateur piano competition?His comment was uncalled for, and frankly, he isn't cut out for it if all he's got to say is something negative with no constructive criticism or positive remark.

If I was a judge, I'd tell you to give your friend my apologies for such a rude judge she came across.

Note that this is not only a single judge. He is talking for the whole panel of judges (OP has deliberately capitalized the word "WE").