Music studies

I have no intention of continuing the senseless discussion triggered off by Dion Buhagiar's unwarranted "declaration of war" against what he calls "colonial diplomas" (December 22, 2006), but his letter of February 22 and his selective reading of my letter of January 18 cannot be left unanswered, since he puts words in my mouth that I did not say.

I did not say that a degree from the University of Malta is only recognised in Malta, as Dr Buhagiar alleges - I said that Maltese students want to get a qualification which is recognised in Malta, which is quite a different thing.

I did not say that we still have to have AB examiners to do grade exams or Diplomas for us, which he finds so "insulting".

I said that everybody should be free to learn in the most effective and satisfactory way, and that the system of graded exams and impartial third-party assessment is a good way of studying for many.

I find his accusation that diploma holders' qualifications are "phoney" far more insulting.

Through his argument that I did not choose performance as my major (for which I had my own good reasons) he is apparently trying to justify the fact that it is acceptable to have a three-year course for a general music degree - which he himself described as a "hotchpotch" of composition, musicology and performance - without providing coaching in performance in instruments other than piano or organ.

His claim that despite his training he feels he has no right to "assess diploma students in other instruments" is beside the point.

Associated Board examiners are respected and experienced musicians with successful professional/academic careers, who after extremely demanding selection and training in all aspects of music and all instruments are constantly being monitored to ensure consistency.

This guarantees an objective, fair evaluation, regardless of what Dr Buhagiar might think.

As for his remarks about what knowledge or capabilities I might have, he is obviously not familiar with what I have been doing over the last years and the amount of experience I have accumulated in the field of performance.

I remind him that my job is performing on stage week in, week out, as well as teaching, so maybe he should keep his personal opinions to himself and not make assumptions.