Tuesday, July 07, 2009

e-Piano Competition: Food for Thought

Interesting interview with Alexander Braginsky who is the artistic director/president of the Minnesota Internation e-Piano Competition. And here's something that stands out:

What I’ve learned, because amid the musicians, a specific and cynical point of view has been established: If a certain person is not present on the jury, then you won’t win. Once, at the Tchaikovsky contest, all six finalists were students of the members of the jury. ... The first thing I did, I forbade the students of members of the jury from taking part in the contest. The next restriction was that the performer could not be a student of a judge in the last five years. Also, relatives of the jury could not take part in the competition under any circumstance. And students of the artistic director also. ... which is why I, the artistic director, excluded myself from the voting process. The only thing I have to do is break a tie.

Now if only more competitions did the same!

Read the rest here

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