| As a teacher:
1) I think that solo festival is the most important event of the year for a middle school student when it comes to individual improvement.
2) The most important skill a performer can learn is to recover from a mistake -- the concept that one mistake will not be allowed to cause a second mistake.
As an adjudicator:
1) I think that 7 out of 10 students come in trying to play something that is too hard, 2 out of 10 something that is too easy, and 1 out of 10 plays a piece that is pretty much on the correct level. I blame this on lazy teachers who di not take enough time in the solo selection process with their students.
2) Many, if not most, students need more time with their accompanists.
3) There is a lack of qualified accompanists. A good pianist is not always a good accompanist, and a bad pianist is never a good accompanist. It is a crime to hear students who put in hours to prepare a solo just to have it ruined by a hack who is charging out the tail to accompany students who are more talented than she is.
4) Tone is the first/top caption on the score sheet for a reason. Students need to understand that playing a hard solo with poor tone and in an unmusical fashion means you accomplished nothing!
5) No where on the score sheet does it say anything about playing correct notes. It is assumed that all the notes will be correct -- then you start to worry about the captions on the score sheet.
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