Those of you who have judged All-state, however, know the judges DON'T get to select students based on whichever qualities they happen to feel are most important. Every time I have judged I was given a very detailed score sheet which strictly assigns point values to each facet of playing, and then sat though a short lesson in exactly how to allot those points.
This is a GOOD thing, because it tries to make judging objective. If students were to audition five times, the results should be very close to the same for every judge.
If you don't do this, how can the student or director know how to prepare? How tragic to spend months developing an awsome earth-mover tone and auditioning for a judge whose personal taste favors a flexible, expressive, lyrical style... or vice versa! The results should be based on things which are objectivly right or wrong, not just the personal whim of this year's judge.
