I just got back from the Nationals competition. As expected, I was either 6th or 7th of 7; but I'm very happy with my performance, despite picking a set I hadn't really played since October. Just to even make it to Nationals was both a thrill and an honor. Hopefully I'll do better next year.

I do see a potential negative for my middle-term competition outlook: my age. Not from the usual claims, that I'm less limber, that I have less time to practice and learn new material, and so on. I think there's a slight unconscious bias in the judging world in favor of younger competitors. I think this showed itself in the Regional competition. As I said, I feel I played better than the teenaged girl who won, and several other people voiced the same opinion. She went on to win special awards for Most Promising Fiddler and Best First-Time Competitor at Nationals. I would have liked to think I'd have been a strong candidate in both categories! But I think it's easy for a judge to see a 33 year old guy as an old hand (not realizing that he's the least experienced of the lot!), plateauing in his skill (not seeing his upward climb), when it's the young girl who is the one who shows promise. And I'm not disparaging this girl's promise, or her skill. She deserves every award she gets. Rather, I think it's just harder to see that someone like me has just as much promise, is just as much of an up-and-comer, as the girl less than half my age. Just another hurdle to me to crash through, I guess!

On the other hand, maybe the judges are keenly aware of this, and see that I'm incredibly self-motivated, and don't need encouragement, like a younger contender might. The judges are experienced musicians and teachers, after all.

Tomorrow are a pair of workshops, I should have fun. I want to get the email addresses and phone numbers of the two DC-area fiddlers (Melinda and Andrew) so we can hang out when we get back to town.