Choral Competition - Judges Discussion Thread

Hi there.

By the idiomatically stuff... you mean the text OR or AND the writing for voice ? For there is nothing said that I've seen about writing well the voice for the text. I this that we should evaluate the way the text is brough into music.

Originally Posted by Dunael

Hi there.

By the idiomatically stuff... you mean the text OR or AND the writing for voice ? For there is nothing said that I've seen about writing well the voice for the text. I this that we should evaluate the way the text is brough into music.

I made mention of these things in one of the earlier posts:

Differing textures that appropriately highlight the selected text - this includes things like key changes, tempo changes, dynamics, articulation, and even changes in the accompaniment. It also includes effective settings of text - examples: where to use a melody in unison or octaves - or where to switch from two-part writing to four-part.

And also using more exclusionary language:

-Poorly executed setting of text - such as the ineffective use of melismas if applicable
-Inappropriately or awkwardly set accents (one of my pet peeves).

Is this what you mean?

Yes, I believe we do need points. I am guessing we'll get about 8-15 submissions, 15 being the absolute most. If we give the judges a week (or maybe more, that hasn't been decided yet) to evaluate them on a point system, we can average the points and leave the ones that score 50-70 in, and then narrow it down from there.

And Nickthoven, is the deadline on the aforementioned date at midnight or at some other hour of the day? And which time zone? Perhaps GMT?

Haven't really got anything to add, but just a little heads-up here: I may have to drop out as a judge. If that happens, sorry everyone. I'm positive that the rest of you will do a stellar job, though.

Sapphire, I usually do the deadline as follows: when I close the thread, then the deadline is over. That usually seems to work.

And usually I close it the first chance I get the day after the deadline, or sometimes right after midnight. Obviously the contestants should realize that if a deadline is a certain date, then handing it in unexcused the day after would be too late.

Thanks

Thanks leightwing, that's what I was asking for !

I might have to drop out as a contestant and become a judge, but at this point I'm not sure. Just letting you all know.

And let's have more discussion about the judging criteria! You people need to decide what the official criteria will be, not me!

How long do we have to download, listen to, and critique the pieces, then submit our scores?

I have a scoring idea that is somewhat complex but I think is effective:

Each entry will be graded in all the 7 aforementioned categories on a scale of one to ten, making the final score for each piece out of 70. 80% (or 56 points) will be the cutoff for the semifinals, all of which will be deemed "Honorable Mentions". Each Judge will vote on their favorite three semifinalists (or "Honorable Mentions"), the best of which overall will proceed to the finals. The finalists will be put in order of best to least best by each judge, best earning two points, least best zero, and the middle one, one. The finalist with the greatest number of points will be crowned Best Choral Piece of YC. The 2nd best will be crowned Almost Best Choral Piece of YC. The 3rd best will be crowned...

...well they can just be a 'finalist'. If there is a tie, Mike (it's his site) or Nickthoven (it's his thread) will break it.

Good method of scoring? Comments?