View Full Version : Caithness Music Festival
Well, the competitive Festival's over for another year - it's been going for longer than I've been alive and hardly changed a bit in all those years.
I just wondered what you all think of the Caithness Music Festival - love it or loathe it?
And if you could change one thing about the Festival, what would it be?
Alice in Blunderland
08-Jun-08, 21:41
I have been attending the festival now for over ten years :eek:
I always think of it as a chore every mother has to attend in the run up but when I get there I love it.
The kids rehearse so hard and put so much into it, that its only good to go along and show your apreciation of their effort.
Like all events its so easy to sit on the sidelines and make comment but on the whole its pretty good.
I thought this year there were fewer entrants but maybe I am wrong.
The best ones are always the kids who steal the show for all the wrong reasons. I hope that it runs for many years to come although with all the cut backs in music tuition it may have a knock on effect for the festival.... or maybe it has already by what I thought were fewer entrants this year. :)
This was my first year going to it, my daughters class was in it and they won first place, they done really well especially for being in P1.
All the kids done well i thought, and looking forward to going back 2mrw night to see all the winners in the assembly rooms.
Well done to everyone who took part.
I think that cuts in music provision have already started to bite the festival. I can remember when I was a pupil at primary school and we used to have a double decker bus leave for the assembly rooms every day, not just on choir day.
Alice in Blunderland
08-Jun-08, 21:53
All the kids done well i thought, and looking forward to going back 2mrw night to see all the winners in the assembly rooms.
Well done to everyone who took part.
See you there Im also returning with the kids .
They are singing the last dinosaur which is such a sad wee song.
At least theyre getting to sing it at the festival they were supposed to be singing it at Mr Wallaces farewell but it wasnt to be. :confused
Alice in Blunderland
08-Jun-08, 21:56
I think that cuts in music provision have already started to bite the festival. I can remember when I was a pupil at primary school and we used to have a double decker bus leave for the assembly rooms every day, not just on choir day.
Didnt see any double decker buses lots of little ones and much easier to get parked also.
Don't know if we still have double decker buses here? It was a few years ago!
You're right, Alice, that the numbers are down - off the top of my head, I think there was a 25% drop in entries last year, and a further 18% reduction this year.:~(
Most schools in Caithness can no longer offer specialist music tuition to the infants (p1-3) and the two specialist music teachers can only take whole classes of p4-7, leaving no time for quality choir or recorder tuition - it's a real shame. But, on the up side, we saw a whole lot more entries this year of whole classes being directed by their class teachers in action songs and popular songs - congratulations and thanks to all those brave teachers who are keeping up the good work in spite of the cutbacks!:)
My personal favourite was Thrumster recorder group - I think it was p3(!) to p6 - a really happy bunch and great recorder playing, too. They seem to be the only school in Caithness still teaching recorder, so extra congratulations to whichever teacher's making the super-human effort to fit that in. If I'd had a trophy to give, it would certainly have gone to them!
Because the numbers are down and specialist tuition's becoming increasingly scarce, I wonder if the music Festival should add a teaching element to the week - workshops for the ones that do turn up to do a vocal or instrumental solo. Maybe we could learn a thing or two from the Feis - what do you reckon?
Alice in Blunderland
10-Jun-08, 15:52
Well I have to say I thoroughly enjoyed the festival concert last night. :D
The kids were brilliant all of them it was the best two pound I have spent in ages well done everyone.
A big thankyou to all involved. :cool: Looking forward to next year.
It is SUCH ashame now that the festival isn't as busy as it used to be.
When I was at school the hall used to be PACKED. People had to stand at the back it was so busy, but this year there were HEAPS of seats left. :(
I put a group in and they did very well, they came 2nd. :D
Although it was quiet this year all the kids that i saw perform both at the festival and the concert did brilliant! WELL DONE!
looking forward to next year too! :lol:
Sad to hear you think the festival is dwindling! I remember going to the festival as a highlight (I played recorder, did verse speaking including caithness dialect, solo singing as well as the choir) and we were told on our double decker no singing on the way there to save our voices but we went mad on the way back. Where my kids go to school here in Perthshire there is only a part-time music specialist (what happened to music teacher) and this is the first term I recall there being one and we have been here for four years. So sad!
Glad to hear you've all enjoyed this year's Festival.:D
I was at the Wick winner's concert last night, too, and it was just great to see all the kids having such a fantastic time. (There were not so many nerves showing now that the adjudicator's packed his bags and gone home!)
Don't worry, the Music Festival will be here for a good long time yet - it would be unthinkable to have it any other way, whatever happens to the school education system!
Things change slowly in Caithness, but few things change slower than the Music Festival, so if you've any suggestions for a few gentle tweaks for next year we'd be glad to hear them - we're planning to keep the Music Festival entertaining and educating through the 21st century and beyond so get your thinking caps on!;)
I went to the festival last Friday to hear the final of the adult choirs but there was only two in it. Melvich Gaelic Choir and The St John's Singers so there was no competition. Though I don't know much about it I'd have thought there would have been more but then I didn't go through the week so I don't know if there were more choirs that got knocked out first.
Well, the competitive Festival's over for another year - it's been going for longer than I've been alive and hardly changed a bit in all those years.
I just wondered what you all think of the Caithness Music Festival - love it or loathe it?
And if you could change one thing about the Festival, what would it be?
It is greate vent. Good for children and great entainment for adults. I have gone as a parent and as a grandparent.
Lst Thursday morning was superb theatre. The Dramatised Songs were brilliant and a morning of fun for £1 was great value. Pity no more people there and a pity so many felt after their own childfren had taken part. I stayed the whole morning though on this occasion there were no family members taking part.
Could someone enlighten me as to what the Caithness Music Festival is all about ( music I know) but I have not really heard much about it to be honest.
All I know is, its based in Wick, at the assembly rooms and about that I may be wrong also.
Could someone enlighten me as to what the Caithness Music Festival is all about ( music I know) but I have not really heard much about it to be honest.
The Caithness Music Festival is an annual competitve festival of music and speech - there are five days of competitive classes, the children perform during the daytime sessions in Wick Assembly Rooms and then there are also 3 or 4 evening sessions, mostly in Thurso High School, where senior High School pupils and adults can participate. There are about 250 possible classes for participants to choose from (although they don't all get entries every year) covering instrumental music, singing and poetry.
Anyone who's brave enough can enter as a competitor - you can pick up the syllabus in January/February from local newsagents, entries have to be in usually by mid-March, I think, and the event itself is usually the first full week of June. You can also attend any of the sessions as a member of the audience - quite a few Wick senior citizens buy a weekly ticket and enjoy watching a variety of young people performing all week, rather than just coming to support family or friends.
The singing and speech adjudicators are accredited by the "British and International Federation of Festivals" so they usually know their stuff, and they provide a written assessment of each performance and choose a winner & award a trophy where appropriate.
The whole Festival is run entirely by a large team of volunteers organised by a local committee - the Caithness Music Festival is a charity & usually the week long event just about breaks even thanks to donations, the door money and the entry fees for competitors. It couldn't work without the goodwill and time of a large number of volunteers, but luckily we've always had a bountiful supply of goodwill in Caithness, so that's never been a problem.
Last week was the 54th annual Festival, so it's been going a very long time...
I don't know if there were more choirs that got knocked out first.
It would be lovely, Sweetpea, if we had more adult (and junior) choirs entering, but the few adult choirs that exist locally just sing for fun and are not interested in the competitive element. Obviously the fabulous Melvich Gaelic Choir live to compete - they pass through the Festival on their way to many a Mod and we're delighted to have them (although the adjudicator-from-the-South is amusingly always well out of his depth when immersed in the Gaelic Language, he can still acknowledge a musical performance and always does!)
The St John's Singers were entering for the first time and it was lovely to welcome them also - the adjudicator was very kind and had many constructive comments for the newcomers. If you know of any choirs who might want to participate but are feeling shy, then let us know. It is possible to create new classes to meet demand, so let us know if there's a demand for a non-competitive adult choir class & it could be organised (now) for next year... we already have an adult's vocal solo class "Sing for Pleasure" where no marks are awarded, and the adult's instrumental "recital classes" which are non-competitive. Adults sometimes fight shy of the competitive element (I'm one of those!) but many of the children seem to love to compete.
This has to be my longest post ever! I'll stop wittering on...
It's just lovely to know how many of you are enjoying the Festival still, even after all these years, and good to welcome more new faces every year!:D
I have been going to the festival on and off for many years, I am not sure if I love it or loathe it!!
I know this year I saw many children upset either nerves before performing, relief after, remarks by the adjudicator I dont know I never asked, But maybe there has always been upset children I just have never noticed!!
I had children in it this year, one who is not bothered about winning, the other is a different story! one practices, the other whenever they can be bothered!! It can be as competitive as you make it.( this year seemed particulary so) The parent in me was very nervous... will the words , notes e.t.c. be remembered! I did a great job of hiding the nerves!!
One was meant to perform in the Friday night concert and was dissapointed that their acompanist wasn't going, but has their chance to shine in a concert at the high school on monday.
One School group, the average child who cant play any instrument bar the Xylophone they learn at school, did notice they were up against a very talented (private taught ) group way beyond their capibilities. It didn't stop them trying their hardest .
On the whole the Children enjoy the festival and hope for some recognition,I feel sorry for the children who put just as much work in as the winners and dont get the chance to do a concert!
I am not sure what I would change, I know my kids enjoy performing but would rather sit in the audience and be able to see the rest of the acts on a concert evening whilst waiting their turn.
Its great that it teaches kids Music and Instruments as thats a good thing for Co-ordination and learning all about team work.
Its a shame that it doesnt get the same amount of emphasis put on it by the schools, but I dont think its their fault. They would probably have to sacrifice something to buy more instruments etc.
On a lighter note why not have "Air guitar" seeing as thats free :)
Or to take it bang into the "noughties" how about Rapping-BUT only with a Caithness accent! you never know you might find the next Eminem :)
I can just picture it now instead of "Chillin with ma beaches and hose" it would be "hinging with ma coos and sheep" !!! ;)lol
oldmarine
12-Jun-08, 01:01
Never been to one, but it does sound interesting.
I no longer live in Caithness, but have taken part in many Caithness Festivals in earlier years. I still treasure a First place Medal from my last Festival in 1956 . I have all my Adjudication Reports ! It was always nerve wracking -
that is the nature of competition. But how we loved it. The school choir or church choir, various solos, duets etc. we each tried hard to do our best and get the Prize ! Wick v Thurso was the order of the day !
In 1950 a few from the Wick Junior Choir set off on a tiny plane, to the Aberdeen Festival - we took many first places. The following year the whole choir went, and took 1st prize. The town was so proud they announced our success on the Picture House screen and we were greatly applauded.
I think I'm right in saying the Festivals were stopped during the War, but started again in the late 1940s. No Gold Medal was issued until about 1957.
It seemed to me that the folk loved the return of the Festival. The Halls were always backed with proud parents and friends. Long may Festivals continue, happy days indeed !
Invisible
12-Jun-08, 11:24
I have competed at the festival nearly every year since I was in P1. I am now 20. I have noticed the decline in adjudication rather than in performance and competition.
I would like to draw your attention imparticulart to Friday 6th June 2008. I was competing with a group of accordions and to cut a long story short we lost by a point. We gained a merit score of 90 but the other group of gaelic singers led by the talented Mr Bremner scored 91.
How can the ajudicator compare 4 accordions to 4 gaelic singers the mind boggles. To put insult to injury in his speech at the end the adjudicator confessed that he knew little about gaelic and about scottish music. (why was he adjucating?) He couldnt pronuce the gaelic tunes or infact the name of the gaelic group. Did i mention he was English? (not that we hold that against him but this is Scottish music in the open section of the festival)
I do like to ramble but i have my point across and would like your views on this. :D
I have competed at the festival nearly every year since I was in P1. I am now 20. I have noticed the decline in adjudication rather than in performance and competition.
I would like to draw your attention imparticulart to Friday 6th June 2008. I was competing with a group of accordions and to cut a long story short we lost by a point. We gained a merit score of 90 but the other group of gaelic singers led by the talented Mr Bremner scored 91.
How can the ajudicator compare 4 accordions to 4 gaelic singers the mind boggles. To put insult to injury in his speech at the end the adjudicator confessed that he knew little about gaelic and about scottish music. (why was he adjucating?) He couldnt pronuce the gaelic tunes or infact the name of the gaelic group. Did i mention he was English? (not that we hold that against him but this is Scottish music in the open section of the festival)
I do like to ramble but i have my point across and would like your views on this. :D
Any chance this is just sour grapes?!
I have competed at the festival nearly every year since I was in P1. I am now 20. I have noticed the decline in adjudication rather than in performance and competition.
I would like to draw your attention imparticulart to Friday 6th June 2008. I was competing with a group of accordions and to cut a long story short we lost by a point. We gained a merit score of 90 but the other group of gaelic singers led by the talented Mr Bremner scored 91.
How can the ajudicator compare 4 accordions to 4 gaelic singers the mind boggles. To put insult to injury in his speech at the end the adjudicator confessed that he knew little about gaelic and about scottish music. (why was he adjucating?) He couldnt pronuce the gaelic tunes or infact the name of the gaelic group. Did i mention he was English? (not that we hold that against him but this is Scottish music in the open section of the festival)
I do like to ramble but i have my point across and would like your views on this. :D
I think you have a point there it doesnt seem right that accordions should compete against voice, as thats like horse racing vs pigeon racing, there both strong on their own merits.
I would have thought the adjucators were supposed to be of sound knowledge of what they were judging, or how can they judge!
Invisible
12-Jun-08, 13:50
No im not a sore loser. Dont complain often enough. we played well we got 90 which is a merit.
Any chance this is just sour grapes?!
Hey, Cattach, that's a bit harsh - if Invisible scored 90 marks then that's in the highest bracket - "outstanding" - which indicates "an exceptional performance both technically and artistically." Before we say anything else, we should say "Well done, Invisible & friends!" Nobody could ask for more than that in any performance.:D
In answer to your query, Invisible, I can totally see where you're coming from and have felt the same way myself in the past. We've recently changed the syllabus & allocation of cups so that now at least you're only competing against other traditional groups - a few years ago, you'd have been up against string quartets & brass bands for the same trophy.
Let's think... if we had a different class for every different type of music-making group there would be no competition at all and we'd all get first prize.... hey, maybe that's the way to go?!!!?
And if we had a specialist adjudicator for every instrument and every genre, we'd be paying a fortune in fees & travelling expenses and changing adjudicator every half hour through the week - it's just not practical and would make it more expensive for the competitors & audiences.
We do try hard to get adjudicators that know their stuff - Mr Hancock this year is a real expert on singing and a world-class accompanist (pianist) in the classical music scene. He was our main music adjudicator for the week, but we also had a specialist, Mr Cordiner, for Scots fiddle and violin on Monday and another specialist, Pipe Major Jackson, to judge the piping on Wednesday.
While Mr Hancock can't possibly be expected to know every nuance of every genre, or understand the technical challenges of every instrument, he is a thoroughbred musician and I guess that if you got 90 marks and your opponent got 91, you both played exactly what was written on the page and interpreted it with a convincing sense of style. So you've both already overcome any technical problems an audience could spot. In the end, as an experienced musician, he had to choose one performance above the other only because we (you?) wanted him to award a trophy, so I guess he'll have just chosen his favourite performance on the night. It doesn't make Raymond any better than you, it just gives him another shiny trophy to add to his already large collection![lol]
My personal opinion is that we should be gradually phasing out the competitive element of the Festival. (I stress this is just my opinion and not the opinion of the whole committee!) But, personally, I find it's not really very civilized when a performance as good as yours gets anything other than a healthy cheer and a warm round of applause. There's no need for trophies, really, in a civilised musical society.
But as long as the people keep wanting them, I guess we'll keep handing them out every year...
If you'd like a "music for pleasure" class where we could all play alongside one another purely for enjoyment & to entertain the audience, I'd be game to put one in the syllabus and join in the fun. Or perhaps you'd rather donate a new trophy specifically for accordion groups just to make sure Raymond doesn't rob you again next year - I don't blame you and it would be welcomed by the committee!
Congratulations on what must have been a terrific performance and don't let anyone put you off - you're obviously doing everything just right, now you just have to learn to enjoy it!
Hey, Cattach, that's a bit harsh - if Invisible scored 90 marks then that's in the highest bracket - "outstanding" - which indicates "an exceptional performance both technically and artistically." Before we say anything else, we should say "Well done, Invisible & friends!" Nobody could ask for more than that in any performance.:D
In answer to your query, Invisible, I can totally see where you're coming from and have felt the same way myself in the past. We've recently changed the syllabus & allocation of cups so that now at least you're only competing against other traditional groups - a few years ago, you'd have been up against string quartets & brass bands for the same trophy.
Let's think... if we had a different class for every different type of music-making group there would be no competition at all and we'd all get first prize.... hey, maybe that's the way to go?!!!?
And if we had a specialist adjudicator for every instrument and every genre, we'd be paying a fortune in fees & travelling expenses and changing adjudicator every half hour through the week - it's just not practical and would make it more expensive for the competitors & audiences.
We do try hard to get adjudicators that know their stuff - Mr Hancock this year is a real expert on singing and a world-class accompanist (pianist) in the classical music scene. He was our main music adjudicator for the week, but we also had a specialist, Mr Cordiner, for Scots fiddle and violin on Monday and another specialist, Pipe Major Jackson, to judge the piping on Wednesday.
While Mr Hancock can't possibly be expected to know every nuance of every genre, or understand the technical challenges of every instrument, he is a thoroughbred musician and I guess that if you got 90 marks and your opponent got 91, you both played exactly what was written on the page and interpreted it with a convincing sense of style. So you've both already overcome any technical problems an audience could spot. In the end, as an experienced musician, he had to choose one performance above the other only because we (you?) wanted him to award a trophy, so I guess he'll have just chosen his favourite performance on the night. It doesn't make Raymond any better than you, it just gives him another shiny trophy to add to his already large collection![lol]
My personal opinion is that we should be gradually phasing out the competitive element of the Festival. (I stress this is just my opinion and not the opinion of the whole committee!) But, personally, I find it's not really very civilized when a performance as good as yours gets anything other than a healthy cheer and a warm round of applause. There's no need for trophies, really, in a civilised musical society.
But as long as the people keep wanting them, I guess we'll keep handing them out every year...
If you'd like a "music for pleasure" class where we could all play alongside one another purely for enjoyment & to entertain the audience, I'd be game to put one in the syllabus and join in the fun. Or perhaps you'd rather donate a new trophy specifically for accordion groups just to make sure Raymond doesn't rob you again next year - I don't blame you and it would be welcomed by the committee!
Congratulations on what must have been a terrific performance and don't let anyone put you off - you're obviously doing everything just right, now you just have to learn to enjoy it!
As I said in earlier posting, I am a great supporter of the Festival and think it is a great event.
Just posing a little question that obviously 'struck a little nerve' if not 'a little Chord'!
And, of course, it is pretty unusual for winners to criticise the adujicator but very common for losers.
He/she cannot please everyone. I have listen to long sections of verse and songs and frequently been wrong when picking winners. They are very experienced people who hear hunderes, if not thousands, of people on a weekly basis and have done so in most cases for many years.
Invisible
12-Jun-08, 21:44
As I said in earlier posting, I am a great supporter of the Festival and think it is a great event.
Just posing a little question that obviously 'struck a little nerve' if not 'a little Chord'!
And, of course, it is pretty unusual for winners to criticise the adujicator but very common for losers.
He/she cannot please everyone. I have listen to long sections of verse and songs and frequently been wrong when picking winners. They are very experienced people who hear hunderes, if not thousands, of people on a weekly basis and have done so in most cases for many years.
Im not criticising because we lost, its because the adjudicator said words along the line of "I know little about gaelic and scottish music".
Ill admit I am a sore loser sometimes but that wasnt the point I was trying to convey. [smirk]
Im not criticising because we lost, its because the adjudicator said words along the line of "I know little about gaelic and scottish music".
Ill admit I am a sore loser sometimes but that wasnt the point I was trying to convey. [smirk]
It sounds to me that the adjudicator was being pretty honest giving his knoweldge of one kind of music and need not have made this admission. The point I think is that musi is very international and a good musician will spot quality or otherwise no matter what is being played. A adjudictor with the music before him or her will always be able to judge if the playing has ben accurate in terms of quality of reproduction - key, tne, tempo, etc as required by the music is there tosee and there to hear so a knoweldge of a particular type of music is not essential.
Learn from the experience and do even better next year though that will be hard having received such great mark this year.
Well, I think you're both a bit right.
Adjudicators sometimes do get it wrong - especially when they're out of their specialism - and I can say that with confidence being a person very highly trained in one particular musical specialism which is rarely shared by our adjudicators.:roll:
That said, their opinions are to be highly respected because, like us all, they can only do their best & that's usually more than satisfactory.
If he gave you 90 marks and your opponent 91, you must both have played / sung to a very high standard indeed. He's not there to judge your technique when you're playing at this high standard or to judge the Gaelic element of the singing - he's just there to judge his favourite musical performance. It's only his opinion.
This particular adjudicator didn't even like doing that & would often get all the participants up for a round of applause. Like I say, competition with others is not what music's about - it's about playing the best you can, (competing only with yourself) enjoying what you do and providing enjoyment to others. Obviously, Invisible, you're doing that already - let the "defeat" float away into your past and leave it there.
Hoping to see you at next year's Festival - you never did say if you'd prefer a non-competitive class or whether you'd still want to compete?
We can only provide what the people tell us they want.;)
I wander if many would still take part if it was non competitive?
On the other hand, how about a medal for all competitors? as they have worked just as hard as the rest and something special for the winner?
one of my kids thive with the competitiveness of it ....its a good way to get them to practice,.. something to work for! If there was no winner or medal at the end of it I am not sure if they would work so hard!!
It was the other childs first time doing a song, they got 87 which is remarkable as I am not sure of their singing abilities! The Adjudicator did, whilst giving out the results mention he was a bit deaf when he asked a question to a front row member and could't hear the reply!!
There are many children who love the competitive element - but usually I notice these are the children who are often winners & so can usually cope with the odd disappointment. The soloists who don't ever win tend not to enter year after year... and that's a pity.
I'm not so sure about the adults - do any of you enjoy the competition? (Weeboyagee, you're awful quiet - I'd expected you'd have an opinion on this thread!;))
Alice in Blunderland
14-Jun-08, 10:08
Weeboyagee is off on travels again but will no doubt have an opinion written down for us all when he gets back...... ;)
Maybe hes still tied to a Gaelic signpost somewhere..:lol:
Maybe hes still tied to a Gaelic signpost somewhere..:lol:[/quote]
Is that a confession Alice ;)
Alice in Blunderland
14-Jun-08, 10:22
My lips are sealed :lol:
However he is missing in action again.. :eek:
I'll take my camera when i am out and about, if i see him tied to a post i will take a pic and post it on here :eek::lol:
Not sure which I'm looking forward to more, WBG's return or seeing the pics!!:eek:
We had our post Festival comittee meeting the other night & have set the dates for next year's Festival as 8-12th June 2009, so get it in your diaries now![lol]
But, seriously, all you teachers and headteachers out there will have noticed it's going to be a week later than usual (due to Assembly Rooms being used for elections the week before) so now's a good time to make sure that it doesn't clash with your school trips.
weeboyagee
15-Jun-08, 13:48
Good afternoon from somewhere south! Just on my way home from adjudicating at a crackin Provincial Mod in Lochaber - juniors were performing out of the top drawer - the youth of today are musically amazing!
Hello there Invisible! Hope you don't mind me responding to your post. First of all you do yourself an injustice - 90 is honours, higher than distinction which is higher than merit which you are stating - so a very well done. Just to let you know also - Ceol Bho Thuath are a competitive folk group. We compete at the local Music Festival for a few reasons:
1. We are from Caithness (despite some of the errors in the Press)
2. We need the competition experience
3. We need to support the local Music Festival, if we don't we will contribute to the continued drop in numbers
4. We like to let people hear our music - that's what the audience are there for
The adjudicator can say what they like - at the end of the day you perform to the best of your ability and the audience are your best judge - the adjudicator should be looking to a) encourage and b) help you achieve a better performance. If this brings you to win competitions in the future then this is an added bonus.
You have a very, very valid point about vioces against instruments. There is another valid point regarding instruments playing Gaelic Airs and voices singing Gaelic songs where the adjudicator has no knowledge of Scots or Gaelic language and songs.
As I understand it you are 20 as I believe and are very passionate about your playing. It's not quite practical to get an adjudicator that can adjudicate all discplines across the entire musical spectre and certainly when you look to get the number of adjudicators to cover such a scope as was on stage on the final Friday night, I know from experience that the cost would be prohibitive. You had solo voice (junior), four part harmony choirs (Gaelic and English), instrumental and on top of this a complete mix of musical style and variation. It is absolutely impossible to get an adjudicator who specialises in every genre and more over these adjudicators have a wealth of knowledge and background experience in the musical world that we may never meet or excel.
They will look for musicianship across the board, style, commitment, variation, performance etc where they have to generalise instead of trying to adjudge based on the specific disciplines. In the case of an accordion group and a vocal folk group the adjudicator will have to generalise. He/She will not particularly look at needing an understanding of the language of Gaelic but I should let you know that the adjudicator already had a translation of both songs and will have looked for our interpretation coming out in the performance. Stage presence (smile, body language, confidence etc) also enhance a performance and these are all what I look for in delivering my adjudications. I have adjudicated both at local and National level all over the Highlands, Islands and other areas of Scotland.
Can I say also that, like you, I am a very sore loser and I think that where you admit this as you do it is a good thing! Cause you want to beat the ass of the competition next time! You go sock 'em!!! Can I also say that we are a group that has competed and won Nationally and Internationally and we don't take it lightly to go on stage in the local area possibly being seen at a higher level of performance and experience at the cost of the development of other younger locals but if we don't then we can be seen to be unsupportive of our local community (which we are definitely not!) and also a bit full of our own importance which I would like to think we are not. I know the work that Isobel puts in with you guys and it is to be seriously commended as are you lot that went on stage and achieve one of the only three Honours marks that was handed out during the entire festival! Be proud of that! :D
On another note (pardon the pun!) there does not seem to be an ability for vocal folk groups and instrumental folk groups to be able to compete seperately at the local festival - and as tootler says - this may be something for our Festival Committee to look at and one of our group (as tootler knows well I am sure!) is the Secretary of the Committee and I will discuss this with her - what do you think?
Chin up and keep up with the competition - you are a seriously talented group of performers and the county is proud to have you and the rest of you as musical ambassadors for the community.
WBG :cool:
weeboyagee
15-Jun-08, 14:06
On another note I would take up the point about choirs - there were other choirs that used to compete - Wick Choral Society, Thurso West Church Choir, Shirley Loban's extremely talented (and one of my favourites!) Thurso West Ladies, Caithness Gaelic Choir etc. Melvich and the St Johns Choir (new this year) are the only ones left. If the choir and their folk group had pulled out what programme would there have been left? There is a serious amount of pressure for us to maintain the commitment to the programme but we would love to see others take part on the night. What about the West Church and the Choral Society? They are still going - can we get them back into the programme? It would be great. Would it be better to have a singing for pleasure evening rather than competitive for choirs? Would love to hear about that suggestion?
WBG :cool:
Hey, WBG, very nice to have your experience in on this thread & thanks for being so supportive of Invisible the Invincible (well, almost Invincible!;)) I hope he's read your reply & taken it to heart - perhaps he'll win his much-wanted trophy next year as a result?
Do let our Secretary know your thoughts on class allocations for the traditional side of the Festival just as soon as you can - a group of us are meeting in a couple of weeks to have a good look at the syllabus and bring it up to date to meet current needs, so this is a good opportunity for us to get it right for the traditional classes.
I'm not quite clear why your wee singing group couldn't enter one of the vocal classes if you don't want to sing against instrumentalists - looking at this year's entries there were classes for Scots song, Folk Song & Hebridean Song (which I don't think are restricted to solo entries) and also specific classes for vocal duet, trio & quartet. You can PM me if you like, or speak directly to the Secretary so that we have the classes you want to enter for next year.
And if there was enough demand, we could think about having a specialist adjudicator for future years - we're going to try to get a specialist for the woodwind and brass classes next year, but that's because we're expecting to be able to fill a whole day with entries into these classes... if Gaelic takes off according to your expectations, WBG, it's only a matter of time before we'll need a specialist for a day of that, too!
There is already an existing "Sing for Pleasure" class - I'll have to check now and see if it is restricted to solo entries, otherwise we could just use it for all the potential non-competitive vocal groups and choirs as well as the soloists and make a wee concert of it. I'd enjoy listening to that!:D
Is there anyone out there from any of the other choirs to respond to WBG's suggestion?
Invisible
16-Jun-08, 11:56
Thanks WBG and Tootler, I am keeping my head thanks to your words. The festival means alot to me as I say been competing since I was knee high. It's also the only competition our group goes in for in the year.
Maybe next year we will come back with smiles on our faces :D noted the adjudicator said we were concentrating too much. lol
Here's to more successfull years in the future. And apologies for complaining like a bairn.
....(Insert Signature Here).......
Invisible
16-Jun-08, 11:57
Invincible lol
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