This article is a translation of the original one in Finnish.
After the finals of 8th International Jorma Panula Conducting Competition on November 19th, music critic Norman Lebrecht’s internationally followed but controversially reputed classical music blog Slipped Disc wrote that all the three finalists were current or former students of two jury members, conductors Johannes Schlaefli and Nicolás Pasquet. Lebrecht also made a headline of an unconfirmed and anonymous comment from ”Panula participant”, who claimed that the jury members weren’t obliged to abstain from voting for their own students. Was it really the case?
“I won’t comment the jury policy”
”These news have annoyed us. They contain mistakes, even lies. I have my own guesses about the source of this statement, and I am sure that they are not an ’inside source’. Lebrecht hasn’t taken care of fact-checking, which is totally incomprehensible in a post-Trump world of fake news”, commented the competition’s secretary and producer Michael Claussen soon after the finals. He didn’t think an official statement would be necessary.
”I will refrain from commenting the jury’s actions in other ways”, Claussen responded when asked about jury policies regarding vote abstention.
Jury member Pasquet replied by e-mail the following day. ”This incredible action of Mr. Lebrecht has clearly been impulsed by somebody full of envy and resentment. I think that the clear aim is to damage the reputation of the Panula Competition. I am very happy and honoured to have been part of this 8-member jury, with 3 representatives of the playing orchestras among them, where we took all decisions in common agreement”, Pasquet wrote.
”My students and former students are under the most succesful in Europe, all on a good way, and this has been achieved only through quality in the work, honesty, equanimity and openness.”
Pasquet as well avoided commenting on the question about jury policies.
Five days after the competition, Viljo and Maire Vuorio foundation – the institution behind the competition – published a statement to the Slipped Disc news.
”By inquiries with the Chairman of the jury, the members of the jury and the secretary we have come to the conclusion that the opinions mentioned in your blog are based on false information”, writes the chairman of the board Tomas Häyry. ”To our knowledge the 8-member jury has made all their decisions in common agreement and good spirit. No secret voting have [sic] been used.”
“We’ve always done this without any rules”
The main question – whether there were rules limiting the jury or not – was still unresolved before a call to the chair of the jury, Jorma Panula himself. Was it true that all the finalists were Schlaefli’s or Pasquet’s current or former students?
”Yes”, Panula replied in his straightforward, almost blunt way.
So did the jury members have a guideline to abstain from voting for their own students?
”No rules. Freely according to one’s conscience. Eight members, eight opinions, and it went as always: in good spirit. We’ve always done this without any specific rules, since the first edition of the competition in the last millennium.”
Soon after the call, Schlaefli sent his reply.
”Mr Pasquet and myself suggested to have the policy of no votes for current students from our own conducting-classes. Maestro Panula and the jury however had the strong wish that every jury member votes for all candidates. As a first-time guest in this jury my effort was to simply insert myself into the existing customs of the competition, aware that in no case I actively speak or influence in the case of the student from my own class”, Schaefli wrote.
”There was a clear procedure: first an open voting before any discussion to ensure an uninfluenced vote, which practically always led to clear decisions. The procedure was clear and fair and happened in a good and respectful atmosphere and spirit without controversial discussions.”
Why such defense?
So the claims of disagreement and chaos have been denied by everyone interviewed so far, but Slipped Disc had a truth included among the gossip: all the finalists were indeed students of jury members, and there was no policy on voting for one’s own students. It’s interesting how Claussen and Pasquet declined to comment on this fact, whereas for Panula and Schlaefli it was nothing to hide.
So, should there have been such a rule? The biggest international classical music competitions in Finland – Sibelius Violin Competiton, Maj Lind Piano Competition and Mirjam Helin Vocal Competition all have a written set of rules for bias prevention, and the procedure seems to be a standard in most major international competitions.
Outrageous, undeserved nepotism can easily be prevented in a jury of eight, but votes close to a tie are indeed a different case.
Santeri Kaipiainen