Andrew Spang knows his band students at Folly Quarter Middle School do not always listen to him. That's why he was looking forward to last week's countywide orchestra adjudication, where student orchestras perform for independent judges.
"Sometimes they'll say things in just the right way," said Spang, director of bands at Folly Quarter and the Maryland Music Educators Association Outstanding Music Teacher for 2007-2008. He said that judges make comments on a performance and "they'll word it differently, so that it strikes home" with students.
Folly Quarter's Chamber Symphony was among 31 musical ensembles performing at the three-day orchestra adjudications last week at Marriotts Ridge High School.
The adjudications have been held for almost 20 years. They began as a one-day event, with smaller schools combining orchestras.
Robert White, the school system's instructional facilitator for music, said that the growth of music programs in elementary and middle schools has filtered into county high schools. During the past three years, every middle and high school in the county has sent an orchestra to the adjudications. To accommodate them, the judging takes place over three days.
White said the event's "primary function is, it's really an assessment" similar to the Maryland School Assessment tests for academics. "I get to see all the teachers and their work, even if it's just a snapshot [of] them working with kids."
As the host school, Marriotts Ridge gave each group of musicians a student guide. Sophomore Greg Townsend - who plays tuba - listened to the Folly Quarter ensemble warm up. He sat in the back of the rehearsal room with his walkie-talkie, waiting for the cue that Folly Quarter could take the stage.
Each group opened with a warm-up piece. Folly Quarter performed Haydn's Surprise Symphony No. 94. The judges sat in a roped-off section in the auditorium, recording comments on tape during each performance.
Franz Reinhardt, a retired orchestra director from Baltimore County public schools, has been judging orchestras for about 20 years. As a judge, he said, "You can offer some support, maybe some new approaches. ... You can share your experiences with some younger teachers."
The judges assess in seven areas, including tone, intonation and musical interpretation. "Are they playing in such a way that Mozart sounds like Mozart?" Reinhardt said. "The main thing is to encourage the students. What I try to do is be very supportive in my comments ... so that they want to come back."
