<p>I'm investigating this for a friend. Anyone know anything about it, had experience with it in music (as an instrumentalist) and anyone enter this year?</p>
<p>I’ve known many string and some classical piano students who have been NFAA winners over more years than I care to admit! Students I’ve heard have been at a level to attend top conservatories – Curtis, Juilliard, etc. Students seem to enjoy Arts Week. </p>
<p>That said, NFAA is a competition subject to all the vagaries of competitions. Here are several more thoughts and observations.</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Certain teachers “push” competitions including NFAA more than others. Some teachers of absolutely top stature don’t encourage students to enter competitions as they see limited value to the students’ development. As a result, many students who could have done well in NFAA results don’t submit entries at all.</p></li>
<li><p>Knowing how various students compare against each other, I’ve seen some very odd results in the awarding of the different levels of awards and cash prizes. Of course, that’s true in most competitions – it’s often hard to imagine how judges reached their decisions! I wouldn’t take the “results” as a definitive measure of talent or predictor of the future. I know Curtis graduates now gainfully employed as symphony musicians who received “only” Honorable Mention.</p></li>
<li><p>Like all competitions, keep it in perspective. A win never guarantees a successful career (!) and a failure to receive any type of honor isn’t necessarily a predictor of doom. If you enter, I’d focus on the value in preparing the required repertoire to a high level and in putting together a DVD of quality playing.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>Excellent post Fiddlestix - results from both NFAA and NATS are often puzzling to say the least. I'd hate to see any young performer enter one of these competitions thinking that the results reflect on his or her future as a performer - or even current talent for that matter. They can be great experience - especially for those who have few opportunities to perform otherwise.</p>
<p>Speaking of NFAA, can we assume that if we haven't heard anything by now, the kid won't be going to Miami?</p>
<p>The website says results will be mailed out by mid December.</p>
<p>Thanks for reading that for me (he said, embarrassed that he'd missed that part).</p>
<p>Over on the MT forum they are indicating that those going to FL have been called. Several know the results. They have to give the yes or no that they will attend pretty quickly. the rest of the results are mailed/posted in mid Dec.</p>
<p>I just want to put my two cents in here, before everybody begins freaking out about the results. There are a lot of performers/artists etc., who go to NFAA and do go to great programs, but there is also an abundance of students at these conservatories and schools that don't make it past the first round of NFAA. The judges for NFAA judge so differently, from the faculty at these schools, that before everyone becomes broken-hearted and discouraged about the results, you should try to keep this all in mind!</p>
<p>raquelgonzalez90 is so right. DD did not make it past first round and got into all her schools, with scholarships. Competitions and school auditions look for different qualities. It is great preparation though, so not wasted effort. And it got attention during auditions just having entered. It showed she was serious. So if you entered and did not make the final round, do not despair. Just entering is an accomplishment. Use the experience and do well in you coming auditions.</p>
<p>I will echo these thoughts loudly. My son did not enter or win competitions in high school. We live in the District of Columbia which has no all-state orchestra. He studied violin hard and participated in a prep program where he got tons of performance experience and did achieve some accolades there. He did very well on his auditions and was accepted into a number of competitive programs with merit money. So don't worry if you don't get into NFAA. </p>
<p>My son actually says that a lot of the kids he's now in school with did few or no competitions. It seems as though many music-loving hs kids who do not intend music careers study music at a high level and compete because the competition wins make good resume items for their non-music college applications as extracurricular achievements. This is true for regular college apps. For music school, the audition reigns supreme in the decision-making. All the competition wins in the world will not overcome a bad audition.</p>
<p>That being said, if you have few performance opportunities, the competitions can fill this gap and this is an important piece in preparing for a music career.</p>
<p>Piggybacking on Stringfollies,</p>
<p>I know students who as high schoolers won or were finalists in major competitions - international, national, etc. and some who performed with major symphony orchestras who </p>
<p>1) didn't enter NFAA at all</p>
<pre><code> OR
</code></pre>
<p>2) entered and received "only" a Merit or Honorable Mention award or who attended Arts Week, but were not choosen as "Presidential Scholars". As I said before, some of those results really leave me scratching my head!</p>
<p>I have also heard at least one violinst recently who was a "Presidential Scholar" and attended a major conservatory - I would not go out of my way to hear this soloist again. The development in the 10 years that follwed the NFAA accolade just didn't amount to enough.</p>
<p>As others have said, don't be disappointed if the NFAA results aren't all you'd hoped for!</p>
<p>I find it very interesting to read that the NFAA judging can be very different from conservatory judging. </p>
<p>So here's my question- how are the judges selected? Are there non-musician judges? Are there political appointees to the judges panel?</p>
<p>Here's the link to NFAA judges & procedures:</p>
<p>[url=<a href="http://www.nfaa.org/Students/How%20to%20Register/Panel/%5DNFAA%5B/url">http://www.nfaa.org/Students/How%20to%20Register/Panel/]NFAA[/url</a>]</p>
<p>Click on the left side to see the actual judges by name & bio for various disciplines.</p>
<p>I don't think that any of the above posters intended to impugn the integrity or ability of NFAA judges or of conservatory faculty. </p>
<p>In point of fact, the goals of competition (including NFAA) judges and conservatory faculty auditioners are different. A competition judge is evaluating a performance or set of performances as presented, at one point in time. The performance gets scored on what the judging panel saw in that single presentation. A competition judge is looking for the winning performance(s). (And yes, there are competition standards that MUST be met - sometimes various prizes at competitions are not awarded because the panel judged that no one met the required level. You can't win a major competition simply because of lack of quality entrants!)</p>
<p>Conservatory/music school faculty members are looking to enroll qualified students for further training. They are looking not only at the performance as given and the level of development that it represents, but also evaluating things such as the student's potential to develop.</p>
<p>Agree with fiddlestix. I think even more so for voice. The schools were evaluating potential as much if not more than the specific performance since voice tends to develop later, especially her mezzo. . DD had only studied classical voice for about 18 months prior to the NFAA recording. Her diction still needed work. It would not win a competition against those that had studied language and diction longer or had worked on their rep longer and could produce a cleaner recording at that time. . </p>
<p>By the time she was auditioning in the winter it was much better, but still young. Her studio teacher selected her for the potential she heard and for where she was in her studies. Can't say if instruments are the same.</p>