Clarity On College Music Fest

THIS is in response to concerns by one Japie de Aarde in The Namibian of June 27.

The Music Festival is an annual College of the Arts’ event aimed at establishing a showcase opportunity for students. It is NOT a national event, but purely a COTA production.Neither is it a competition to select an overall winner.No prizes or scholarships are awarded.The auditions serve to extract the best possible players and items to make up a well-balanced and enjoyable program for the public.The items are not only evaluated for technical and musical level of excellence, but also suitability to be accompanied by a symphony orchestra and presented on stage.For the 2008 auditions, 41 entries have been received.To establish a program of 70 minutes playing time, 16 entries could be accommodated, which will involve 19 participants to the event, of which five will be from outside COTA.Various models have been tried to compile a satisfactory selecting panel, ranging from outside persons (which could only be individuals that are not practicing teachers/musicians, otherwise their students could not enter), representatives of the College (whose students then could also not enter), open to the public (which resulted in disturbing behaviour from the visitors’ side) to the last model in 2007 and 2008, where a large group of COTA lecturers were involved.The 2007 auditions, where a similar group of lecturers served on the panel, were conducted without any complaints from parents, teachers or students afterwards, and on this ground, it has been decided to repeat similar procedure for 2008.Ten members of the panel submitted a mark for each item, and the normal curve would then act that the extremeties would be neutralized, with the aggregate emerging as being the most accurate and representative mark obtained.A number of lecturers accompanied their own students for the orchestral accompaniment, and were automatically not able to vote for their own student, being involved in the combined performance.(The “parent”, to whom some letter writers referred in another newspaper, was one of the two principal accompanists, and was not involved in the voting process.) On qualifications: the staff are appointed by the Public Service Commission and are selected on their expertise, knowledge and skills.Criteria for the selecting process will be published on the future enrolment forms to ensure transparency.Staff will make up the panel, but may not vote for their own student.Outside teachers who enter their students, can vote, but not for their own student.The phrase, namely “The panel’s decision is final and no correspondence will be entered into” will remain.The College would like to state that we are open for discussion and clarification of auditions.We would welcome any constructive ideas, to streamline our processes and produce effective results.We suggest strongly that co-operation and consultation is a strong and constructive method of gaining the desired outcome for any concern, and simultaneously ensures that the aims of arts education will be served and strengthened.Herewith we trust that all concerns have been addressed and clarified and that this matter has now been concluded satisfactorily.Erina Junius COTA Vice Rector For the Music Festival Organising Committee Note: This letter has been shortened – EdIt is NOT a national event, but purely a COTA production.Neither is it a competition to select an overall winner.No prizes or scholarships are awarded.The auditions serve to extract the best possible players and items to make up a well-balanced and enjoyable program for the public.The items are not only evaluated for technical and musical level of excellence, but also suitability to be accompanied by a symphony orchestra and presented on stage.For the 2008 auditions, 41 entries have been received.To establish a program of 70 minutes playing time, 16 entries could be accommodated, which will involve 19 participants to the event, of which five will be from outside COTA.Various models have been tried to compile a satisfactory selecting panel, ranging from outside persons (which could only be individuals that are not practicing teachers/musicians, otherwise their students could not enter), representatives of the College (whose students then could also not enter), open to the public (which resulted in disturbing behaviour from the visitors’ side) to the last model in 2007 and 2008, where a large group of COTA lecturers were involved.The 2007 auditions, where a similar group of lecturers served on the panel, were conducted without any complaints from parents, teachers or students afterwards, and on this ground, it has been decided to repeat similar procedure for 2008.Ten members of the panel submitted a mark for each item, and the normal curve would then act that the extremeties would be neutralized, with the aggregate emerging as being the most accurate and representative mark obtained.A number of lecturers accompanied their own students for the orchestral accompaniment, and were automatically not able to vote for their own student, being involved in the combined performance.(The “parent”, to whom some letter writers referred in another newspaper, was one of the two principal accompanists, and was not involved in the voting process.) On qualifications: the staff are appointed by the Public Service Commission and are selected on their expertise, knowledge and skills.Criteria for the selecting process will be published on the future enrolment forms to ensure transparency.Staff will make up the panel, but may not vote for their own student.Outside teachers who enter their students, can vote, but not for their own student.The phrase, namely “The panel’s decision is final and no correspondence will be entered into” will remain.The College would like to state that we are open for discussion and clarification of auditions.We would welcome any constructive ideas, to streamline our processes and produce effective results.We suggest strongly that co-operation and consultation is a strong and constructive method of gaining the desired outcome for any concern, and simultaneously ensures that the aims of arts education will be served and strengthened.Herewith we trust that all concerns have been addressed and clarified and that this matter has now been concluded satisfactorily.Erina Junius COTA Vice Rector For the Music Festival Organising Committee Note: This letter has been shortened – Ed