AWARDS

In the past ten years, a number of changes have been instituted with regard to how the Festival views awards.  In 1998 a new awards system of Gold, Silver and Bronze plaques was introduced to replace the original First, Second and Third competition certificates. In all sections adjudicators have been asked to provide feedback to each ensemble using criteria that takes into account many factors including the age and experience of the performers, the difficulty of the music and the quality of the performance. This created a system that allowed more than one ensemble in a section to receive a Gold, Silver or Bronze award or indeed it is possible that the adjudicators may not award a Gold, Silver or Bronze award if the criteria for the section are not met.

The new awards section has meant a lot more ensembles going back to their schools after the weekend with tangible recognition for their efforts. Many school walls throughout Queensland are now adorned proudly with Gold, Silver and Bronze awards received at the Festival. The awards also reduce the competitive feeling associated with the Festival. Student ensembles are really competing by themselves against a set of criteria not against other school ensembles in the particular section.

• In 2003, the two perpetual trophies for the most outstanding primary and secondary school at the Festival were discontinued in keeping with the move to de-emphasize the competitive nature of the Festival.  Previously these trophies were awarded to the schools that had achieved the most points for the Gold, Silver and Bronze awards their ensembles took away from the Festival.
• In 2007, there was another change, again to de-emphasize competition in the festival and to take a positive and supportive approach to rewarding excellence in performance.  The Gold, Silver and Bronze system will still be in place, but every ensemble that successfully participates in any section will receive an award, and will therefore have student representatives on stage during the adjudication for that section.  Whilst this may seem to slightly de-value awards from years past, it will serve the purpose of rewarding everyone, and it will allow for the definitions between a Gold, Silver and Bronze performance to be more transparent. 
• In 2008, An Encouragement Award was introduced for the very rare occurrence of an ensemble not successfully finishing their performance, hence not meeting the criteria of a bronze award.  
• In 2009, an Award of  Excellence was introduced to allow adjudicators the opportunity to recognize an outstanding performance by an individual musician.