Judges

A Judges List is maintained by the Pipers and Judges Grading Committee on behalf of the Piping and Dancing Association of NZ. Judges are graded as Accredited, Approved, or Senior. They receive a separate grade for Light Music and Piobaireachd in recognition of the separate knowledge and expertise required for these disciplines. The current list of piping judges can be requested by emailing the PDANZ secretary.

Judging of piping competitions is a very important function. Just like without competitors, if there were no judges, there would be no competition. Judging of piping is very subjective. Judges are graded according to their knowledge, experience, standing in the piping community, and ability to assess performances. The broad process is:

Prospective Piping Adjudicators will apply to the Pipers and Judges Grading Committee for an adjudicator grading. Successful applicants shall receive a separate grading for Piobaireachd and light music. The grading structure is:

• Senior
• Approved
• Accredited

Gradings will be awarded based on the following criteria:

• Competitive track record. The table below sets out the minimum requirement.

	Piobaireachd	Light Music
Senior	Has won a NZ Championship ‘A’ Grade Piobaireachd event or equivalent or higher	Has won a NZ Championship “A’ Grade light music event or equivalent or higher
Approved	Has won prizes in ‘A’ Grade Piobaireachd competitions or equivalent	Has won prizes in ‘A’ Grade light music competitions or equivalent
Accredited	Has won the Comunn na Piobaireachd Silver Medal, or Dunedin Silver Medal or ‘B’ Grade Piobaireachd competitions or equivalent	Has won prizes in ‘B’ Grade light music competitions or equivalent

 

• Repertoire and general musical knowledge
• Standing in the community
• Has the confidence of the members of the Pipers and Judges Grading Committee

An application form can be found here.