Lori here~
With the announcements of the Edgar nominations last Friday, there's been a firestorm of blogging about what was - but mostly what wasn't - on the lists.
Isn't that Monday morning quarter-backing? I don't get it. MWA chose diverse judges, who had diverse tastes and picked what THEY thought were the best representations of the mystery novels. Would I have picked the same ones? No. You? Probably not. But that's the beauty in it. We didn't have to choose. Go back and look at the lists bloggers posted here on their favorite books of 2007. Not a lot of repeats. A list of favorites is different than the official list sanctioned by a well-respected organization.
Art is subjective whether written, or drawn, or performed. What I love, you might think is schmaltzy. What you love I might think is overblown. There is so much to choose from it's amazing any of us can agree on anything - in all aspects of the arts.
This again, is a more personal post, but it does have a parallel.
We are dealing with the "subjective judging" issue in the Armstrong household this weekend. Our oldest daughter, a violinist, and our middle daughter, a violist, competed against each other in the Black Hills Symphony Young Artist Competition. Grand prize is being featured playing the selected piece with the entire Symphony. Our oldest daughter has received honorable mention the last two years - quite an accomplishment in and of itself. This was the first year our middle daughter could compete. Since they each play different string instruments, this was the first time they were competing against not only each other, but musicians playing a variety of instruments: cello, trombone, piano, trumpet, flute, violins, violas and even a marimba.
As I'm sitting there, listening to the contestants, I flipped over the back of the program and saw the qualifications of the judges they'd flown in. One judge had a doctorate in piano performance and teaches at the college level. The second judge, also with a doctorate in music, specializing in brass instruments at the college level. The last judge, yet again another doctorate in music teaching at the college level, specialized in cello. My first thought was shit. No violin or viola judges, so in my mind, the kids playing the brass, the piano, the marimba and the cello immediately got a leg up in the competition (barring any onstage screwups) because the judges knew how to judge those particular instruments.
Then I thought these judges are professional musicians. Who am *I* to judge how they'll...judge?
Our daughters played early in the morning to a mostly empty room. They played practically flawlessly, and that isn't just a proud parent speaking. I've been to hundreds upon hundreds of recitals, performances, workshops in the last 13 years we've been "string" parents and I know what constitutes a great performance. I heard them play these pieces last week at a pre-concert program, and knew they hadn't just talked about honing the minute problems with the pieces, they'd done it. So in listening to the other contestants, all really good performances, I ranked them in what I expected would be the final four. My four weren't the same as my husband's four. See? Subjective.
After the last contestant played, the judges were out for 45 minutes. When they returned with the results, the head judge spoke and said - none of them had picked the same winner. So they had to hammer out what "mattered" - and he said in the end, musicianship and musicality trumps technical skill every time.
And then they announced our 15 year old daughter, Haley, as the winner.
Honorable mention went to our 17 year old, for the 3rd year in a row, 3rd place went to a cellist, and 2nd place to the trombonist. While we were receiving congratulations, there was also grumbling around us that "so and so" should've won, or our honorable mention daughter should've placed higher than her younger sister, or how come "so and so" wasn't on the podium or the judges didn't know how to judge such and such an instrument....etc, etc, etc.
Subjective.
And I'll admit. It took away some of our daughter's joy, when people - well-meaning to be sure - expressed such shock at her winning. See, these people were judging her not on her performance (because they hadn't been there to hear it) but on who they'd heard perform after her. Who they thought should win. Who they wanted to win.
I don't envy contest judges their jobs. It is pretty damn thankless. Because you can't please everyone, so ultimately, you must please yourself. No different than in real life reading or music choices - you read, you play, you watch TV or movies or sports to make yourself happy, and there you *do* get to judge.
So, I will be leaving Left Coast Crime a day early, so I can be in the front row, when our daughter plays Shulman's "Theme and Variations" on her viola for more than 3000 people.
Our pride in her? Not subjective at all. The kid freakin' rocks :)
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