Swiss ISSMA Solo and Ensemble Contest?

Just a few comments about the competition side of the jodel festival:

Although we don’t understand the official rules or the language, we can get a fairly good “read” on each event just by watching the performance (of course) and noticing the response of the audience. By the way, the jodeling events have been very, very crowded.

From what we can determine, each group performs one selection for a panel of three judges. The names of the judges are listed in the program booklet and are well-respected in their genre. We have no idea of the actual criteria by which the groups are judged, but each judge seems to write furiously on their adjudication sheet during the performance. Good intonation is appreciated internationally (and poor intonation has the same effect no matter where you go, too!)

The audience members seem well versed in the accepted standards. We could read the mood of the audience in anticipation of the next group. You could tell if the group was well known, or a hometown, family favorite. Each song lasted about 4 minutes. A bell would ring and the crowd would hush. The audience sat silently and they were very attentive. An announcer introduces each group by name with its leader. Next, they tell town or region they represent and give the title of the song being performed and the name of the composer. Sometimes they say something else about the group (we know that because the audience chuckles).

Although the people are very supportive and interested in all the groups, you could tell that several in the audience were critics, too. We overheard a couple of whispered “so schön” and “sehr gut” comments. Of course we heard “ohs and ahs” when a flag was dropped or the unfortunate alphorn player lost his buzz from dry mouth or when he clammed a note. Still, the applause was polite and encouraging for those groups of medium ability, with shouts of “bravo” and enthusiastic applause for the truly outstanding groups. You only need to hear two or three yodel groups to be able to make some decisions for yourself. As American Idol judges might say, “That was pitchy, dog”

I’m not sure if soloists, duets, quartets, and choirs are all in one big category, or if they entered and are judged separately. The results are announced at the end of the festival and we believe that groups are competing for “ratings only.” There are no State Finals or sight-reading components (HA!) We’ll check to make sure, but they all seem like winners to me.