27/05/2025
Dear music community, we are saddened to announce that one of our committee volunteers has been accused, threatened and recieved written abuse over email from a parent after their child went over the time limit of their respective violin section. 🎻 Apart from the abuse which we cannot share for privacy purposes and also because the nature of the email is so distressing, the parent has decided to take the matter on Chinese social media to continue the abuse and slander our volunteer who is a representative of our committee. *EDIT: sentence solved and removed, thank you to all amazing people who helped*. Hopefully we can stop this behaviour from being a regular occurance as our volunteers do not deserve to be treated like this, especially when they are simply following the Eisteddfod’s rules which have been mostly the same for decades.
As per our rule no.18 on https://www.fremantleeisteddfod.com/rules-and-conditions which we require contestants (or their parents) to read prior to enrolment, competitors must adhere to time limits. Exceeding the time limits disqualifies the player from recieving a prize.
For obvious reasons, all music competitions have time limits for sections to ensure fair competition between competitors and that all contestants are competing fairly. 
We understand the passion parents have for music and we admire the competitiveness. However please be reminded that everyone helping and representing Fremantle Eisteddfod are simply volunteers and are following the competition’s Rules & Regulations to ensure everyone in our music community receives a fair competition. Apart from this incident, the music community has been fabulous and we thank you all so much for your great sportsmanship and for supporting all these upcoming artists! ✅
BACKGROUND INFO: a parent has taken to Chinese social media to accuse, defame, and blame an Eisteddfod volunteer (and the Eisteddfod) after their child was disqualified in a violin section for going overtime. After emailing the Eisteddfod wanting a reversal of the disqualification and demanding a placing (prize certificate), an Eisteddfod representative requested for a video to see if the child had indeed gone overtime and had kindly notified the parent that our adjudicator’s assistants give 1 min leeway when they feel a contestant has excessive tuning and breaktime before and between pieces (to ensure a fair timing for contestants who take longer breaks between pieces in a recital). The parent then sent through their child’s video to the Eisteddfod’s email which clearly shows the child going overtime close to the minute mark not including breaks or tuning time, with the parent admitting in writing to her child going over time for 40 seconds (excluding breaks and tuning time).
After the volunteer seeked consultation from the committee (which unanimously agreed to not overturn the decision) and notifying the parent that rule no.18 in our Rules & Regulations have to be followed, the parent sent an email accusing, threatening and slandering our volunteer, with comments of ‘I will put this on all social media and forward them to music schools, adjudicators, piano accompanists etc.’ (Plus a few organizations we cannot name publicly)
Given the severity of the situation and the emotional impact this has had on our volunteer, this contestant will not be allowed to attend any of our future events. *EDIT: Sentence solved and removed, thank you amazing community for your help* it’s important to ensure something like this is not a common occurrence. ✅ Thank you so much for supporting Classical music and let’s continue making our community a safe, positive and supportive environment for everyone!
Rules and conditions for Fremantle Eisteddfod.
