Rethinking Band Adjudication Through an Equity Lens

Subjectivity in Objectivity

By NAfME Member Adrian Adams

Recently shared on social media:

Yesterday was awesome! An awesome day! A day of many highs for my colleagues, and some lows for some. I just kept thinking, What can I do to help my colleagues close the achievement gap in adjudication? I share my answer that I posted in this conversation:

Where subjectivity enters an objective system: When a rubric exists, judges still have to make human decisions about tone quality . . . what is characteristic vs. excellent? (Balance & Blend) How much imbalance is significant? Musicality… this is inherently interpretive (phrasing, style, expression).

An accomplished maestro, Dr. Mark Spede, Director of Bands at Clemson University, brought up an amazing point about judges hearing differently. And he was absolutely right! Two judges can hear the same performance and agree it was good, but disagree on how good it was numerically. So, I believe that the rubric doesn’t remove subjectivity, but channels it.

Another issue, let’s say the real issue, is the interpretation of the rubric. One judge might think a superior is near-professional level. Another might think a superior is a top-level high school performance. Same rubric, but different internal standards. I call this: subjectivity in objectivity between judges.

Adams speaks: Band adjudication, in my opinion, is a hybrid system . . . objective in structure (rubrics, categories, scoring ranges) but subjective in execution (interpretation, weighting, and musical judgment). The subjectivity exists not in the absence of criteria, but in how consistently the criteria is applied across adjudicators and aligned with their comments.

All of this explanation just to think as a band director: How do I explain a system to my kids that’s meant to assess what they have prepared, but can potentially hurt them based on subjectivity and objectivity?

Implications for Music Educators

For those of us in the classroom, this tension has real implications. If adjudication outcomes vary by interpretation, students’ experiences—and their perceptions of success—can also vary in ways that feel inconsistent or inequitable.

This raises an important question for our profession: How do we ensure that adjudication systems support student growth while maintaining fairness and clarity?

Moving Toward Greater Clarity and Equity

While subjectivity can never be fully removed from musical evaluation, we can take steps to better align practice with purpose:

• Clarify expectations for students by teaching the rubric as a guide rather than a guarantee
• Focus on transferable musical skills instead of ratings alone
• Advocate for calibration among adjudicators to promote consistency across panels
• Use adjudication as feedback, not final judgment, in the learning process

 So, What? Says Adams

Adjudication is meant to validate preparation, growth, and artistry. Yet, as educators, we must also prepare students to understand the system itself, its strengths, its limitations, and its human element. Perhaps the goal is not to eliminate subjectivity, but to make it more transparent, more consistent, and more aligned with student learning. At the end of the day, our responsibility is not just to prepare students for performance, but to help them make meaning of the evaluation that follows.

About the author:

NAfME member Adrian Adams is an accomplished band director with nearly 14 years of experience in South Carolina and Georgia. He currently serves as Director of Bands at Community Christian School in Stockbridge, Georgia, and previously led Dutchtown High School. His ensembles consistently earn superior ratings, with notable performances including a 2023 Normandy tour commemorating D-Day. Adams’s programs have received widespread media recognition, and he has been honored as a Grammy Music Educator Award Quarterfinalist. A passionate advocate for equity in music education, he works to expand access for diverse students. Adams holds degrees from Benedict College, University of Phoenix, and William Carey University, and is currently pursuing a Doctor of Education in Instructional Leadership.

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