<p>StickerShock,</p>
<p>The judging committe (usually the principle chair, music director, and one to 3 others) don't have to recognize "every" musician behind the curtain, only the one(s) they want to advance (their pet project). If they have a bias towards their protege (male or female), they will fight agressively for that one musician whether or not s/he is the player who will complement the section (and whole orchestra) the best. </p>
<p>This is the political nature of the orchestra beast, like it or not. The curtain just gives the appearance of an unbiased decision to the unwashed masses. BTW, I used to play viola myself and actually beat my (4 year older) brother in a competition when I was 13. I gave it up because the working for money part of it just took the fun out of it.</p>