Investigating Performance Evaluation by Assessors of Singers in a Music College Setting

Abstract

Although there is a long-established history of music performance assessment in musiccolleges, there has been little systematic research into potential assessing biases and how criteria are actually arrived at by assessment panels in order for decisions to be made. Indeed, at best, it appears that assessment is established upon tradition and intuition, rather than any systematic procedure. The current paper examines such issues in detailby following the evaluation processes undertaken by a panel of four assessors (three internal and one external assessor) of mid-term recitals for the second year vocal studies students at the Guildhall School of Music, London. Drawing on quantitative and qualitative data, the results suggest that the singer's physical appearance allied to their ability control of the voice in order to project emotional expression are the critical variables in the assessment procedure. The assessors in this study showed a high degree of correlation in their assessment grades and the way in which they discussed individuals, indicatingthat they shared similar ideas. The analysis revealed, however, that the criteria for theassessments were implicitly rather than explicitly held. At one level, the results suggest, therefore, that there is a clearly shared code of assessment criteria, even though it is not precisely articulated. However, at another level, this lack of articulation means that no individual assessor is really sure of what their own or another assessor's thoughts and beliefs lead to a particular decision about the performance. These results are discussed with regard to the Guildhall's approach to assessment procedure, and the broader implications of creating specific lists of assessment criteria are explored.