Opinion · What the grade misses
A music festival can teach kids to fear an audience
Read the Hong Kong Schools Music Festival syllabus and you’ll find room for choirs, soloists, bands, orchestras and Chinese instrumental classes. A student who finds their people there may remember a performance long after the judging sheets disappear.
A contest becomes poor preparation for ordinary musical life if ranking is the only thing anyone discusses afterwards. A listener at a friend’s party could care less whether the rhythm guitar player came second at age eleven. They care whether the song catches and whether there is room for them to sing along.
Build two performances of the same piece. One is the competition take. The other is an informal concert with one different choice agreed by the players. Try an unaccompanied first verse or give a quiet player an exposed melody. Ask each audience what they heard and what they wanted to hear again. The second audience gives feedback no ranked result needs to capture.
Schools can use contests on purpose. If all students on the programme, including the ones who never enter, get an audience and make decisions, one heavily scored day has less power over what they think performance means.