@Rubens @twocats I understand feeling like the name ‘ABF’ was a barrier to participation. For many, the name wasn’t an issue, but I can see how it discouraged a lot of people from even taking a look.
As someone who re-started after a long hiatus, I had no idea what re-starting would mean. As it turned out, a lot came back very, very quickly. But the sense of uncertainty about re-starting definitely drew me to the ABF, and once there, it was clear that a lot of the participants were not beginners. I also very much have the mindset of a piano student. While I’m sure I could have plodded along on my own, one of the things I realized very quickly was how much I missed lessons. So I found a teacher (initially virtual, later in person). I do piano workshops and such, and really enjoy being an adult piano student. My teacher’s adult students are mostly pretty advanced, and several of them are teachers themselves. We’ve had some get togethers, and I find it interesting that we share a lot of issues around performance.
Anyways, the ABF recitals have often had some people who play at a very high level. The submissions also range across many genres. As someone who primarily plays classical music, it’s a bit jarring (but also refreshing and mind-opening) to hear music from lots of styles/genres, many of which are quite foreign to me. Overall, the commentary is supportive and encouraging, and I hope that as a late intermediate/early advanced player, I can offer encouragement and appreciation to everyone. I feel bad because things were busy for me after this last recital. I meant to post responses over the Memorial Day weekend, and then the drama happened, and now I feel pretty deflated with respect to everything on the other website.
All that aside, I said in the ‘re-naming the beginner’s forum” thread that I like the idea of moving away from categories based on WHO, and instead focus on WHAT. It seems like focusing too much on WHO ends up discouraging participation from some people who are more advanced, but it also discourages participation from some true beginners, when they feel like so many people calling themselves ‘beginners’ are anything but. I’m not sure I have the answer to how to brand the recitals, but I really like the idea of a recital that is transparently open and encouraging to everyone on the forum, regardless of ‘level.’ I absolutely feel that this has been @Sam ‘s intent, but I can see how the name created issues for some people, and hopefully with this new forum, we can expand participation in the (r)e-citals!