Judging Procedures

Submission Review
The review process is conducted by members of the Klein Competition Jury. All identifying information must be removed from the uploaded music files so that the anonymity of the contestants is guaranteed.

Once applications are closed, a remote team of 7-8 screeners begin independently listening to the submissions.  Screeners are selected for their expertise as players, conductors, or educators.  We strive for a balance of instruments among them.

All screening is blind; this is why we ask for no ID on the audio submissions.  Each submission is assigned a number, and at no time does a screener or listener know who they are listing to. This is to ensure complete anonymity of the applicants and eliminate any bias or favoritism.

  1. Screening Round 1: Each screener is assigned 15 – 20 applications in the first round, and completes a review that includes a simple numerical ranking and short comments, if desired.
  2. Screening Round 2: we swap the submissions among the screeners so they are heard 2x.  Again, they are reviewed.
  3. Ranking and first cut: After rounds 1 & 2, the rankings are compiled into groups. From these, the Artistic Director for the Klein brings forward approximately 25 submissions.
  4. Listening session: a second group of listeners reviews the final 25.  Listeners are asked to rank the applicants in order.  We compile this final vote and the final 8-9 are selected.  Only then is their identity revealed.

Semifinals and Finals Voting
The judging procedures for the Semifinals and Finals are named for Milton Preves, who first attended the Klein Competition in 1987 as a judge and subsequently was instrumental in developing the basis for the current judging procedures, which have been further refined over the years. Seven judges are asked to refrain from discussion until the first secret ballot in each round is tallied, after which there may be discussion and re-votes only in the event of ties.

All voting is by written, secret ballot.

Semifinals Voting
• Judges will vote for three Finalists. Votes are tallied by staff.
• If the first ballot does not clearly identify three Finalists, a second ballot will be held to determine remaining places in the Final round.
• Judges will then vote to award the Allen R. and Susan E. Weiss Memorial Prize, for best performance of the commissioned work; as well as the Pablo Casals Prize, for best performance of the Bach.
• Judges will then vote for the two Fourth Prizes.
• All of these prizes will be awarded and the Finalists will be announced at the end of the semifinals.

Finals Voting
• Judges begin by voting for first place, then proceed to vote for second and third, etc.
• The Jury will consider performances in all rounds in determining the prizes.
• The primary criterion for judging is a determination of the best total artistic/musical realization of the music performed through both rounds of the Competition.
• Prize awards may be determined by plurality vote, but should be ratified by a motion approved by a majority.
• Additional rounds of voting may be necessary to achieve a clear mandate for a particular prize. These votes are made between/among the top vote getters in the previous voting round.

Conflict of Interest Policy
• Judges whose students are competing in the Competition may not vote for their own students. If a judge would otherwise have voted for his/her own student, that judge should abstain from voting for that particular prize level, to keep remaining votes properly weighted.
• It is Competition policy that the judges make their decisions without regard to the age or career history of the performers: therefore, we give judges special programs without this information, and we ask panelists not to seek such information from any source either before or during the Competition.

Milton Preves (1909–2000) was a violist, conductor, teacher, soloist and a member of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra for 52 years starting in 1934. He was principal violist of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra for 47 years from 1939 to 1986. He played under the batons of all the Chicago Symphony’s conductors from Fritz Reiner through Sir Georg Solti, except for the Chicago Symphony’s founder, Theodore Thomas. Preves was a founding member of the Chicago Symphony String Quartet.