|
EURORADIO CHORAL COMPETITION
REGULATIONS
(at 19.10.2011)
1. Preamble
The Let the Peoples Sing Euroradio Choral Competition is a Radio Competition organized every two years in odd years under the auspices of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU). The 2013 Competition shall be coordinated by ERSL (Luxembourg) (host organization).
The Competition is open to amateur choirs, recordings by whom are submitted by EBU Active or Associate Member organizations.
An international jury shall listen to these recordings during the semi-finals, then select the finalists who shall perform live at the finals.
2. Objectives
The objectives of the Competition are:
• to stimulate interest for music performed by amateur choirs;
• to promote the EBU's role in organizing major radio music events;
• to provide Member organizations with choral music programming.
3. Participation
a) Amateur choirs
The ensembles entered by Radio organizations shall be amateur choirs. An amateur choir is defined as a choir in which the individual members do not receive professional fees. This condition shall not, however, apply to the directors.
b) Categories
Three choir categories shall be admitted:
I YOUTH CHOIRS (equal or mixed voices), none of whose members shall be over the age of 19 at 31 December 2011; minimum 12 members.
II ADULT CHOIRS (equal or mixed voices); minimum 12 members (no age restriction).
III OPEN CATEGORY, for choirs who perform exclusively music of particular cultural traditions or styles (e.g. folksong, gospel, barbershop, jazz, early music, traditional music, etc.); minimum 6 members.
c) Registration
Each EBU Radio Member (an EBU Member may be made up of several Radio broadcasters, such as ARD, numbering some 12 Radio organizations) shall be entitled to present as many choirs as it wishes in each of the above categories.
The National Music Councils or international member organizations of the International Music Council (http://www.imc-cim.org/), in particular the International Federation of Choral Music ( http://www.ifcm.net ) and European Choral Association - Europa Cantat (http://www.EuropeanChoralAssociation.org), shall be entitled to present as many choirs as they wish in each of the above categories.
Furthermore, if there is no EBU Member in a given country or if the EBU Radio Member is not participating, a choir may register on its own via the EBU Web site: http://www.ebu.ch/en/radio/competitions/ltps_index.php. In this case, ERSL will request recordings and listen to the ensemble to ensure that it corresponds to the Competition's artistic level, after which it shall decide whether or not to accept the candidate. This decision shall be final.
A choir may enter only in one category.
The recordings and documentation, as well as any costs resulting from the registration, shall be borne by the organization entering the choir.
Choirs entered in the competition on their own are obliged, if selected, to participate in the finals in Luxembourg at their own cost. A performance for the finals in their country would be an alternative only if the EBU Radio Member in their country agrees to host the choir' performance and its transmission for the finals.
The prize-winners of the 2011 Competition shall not be allowed to be a candidate in the 2013 Competition in any category whatsoever.
d) Deadline for registration and submission of recordings
Radio organizations shall announce their intention to participate in the Competition by returning the attached registration form (Appendix A) by 30 October 2012.
The recordings, scores, biographical notes and description of the choirs, including details on their members, shall be sent by Radio organizations by 30 November 2012 to:
Mr Fernand Weides
Etablissement de Radiodiffusion Socioculturelle
du Grand-Duché de Luxembourg
Directeur radio 100,7
P.O. Box 1833
1018 Luxembourg
Luxembourg
Tel: + 352 44 00 44-801
Fax: + 352 44 00 44-980
E-mail: fweides@100komma7.lu
4. Procedure
The Competition shall take place in two stages: the semi-finals and finals.
a) Semi-finals
The semi-finals shall be organized at the headquarters of the host organization at the beginning of 2013, with the on-site presence of the international jury (see item 7 below). The jury shall listen to the works entered and shall select at the most nine finalists.
Each radio station or choir entering the competition must submit a recorded programme consisting of at least four pieces. Credit will be given to programmes which present contrasting pieces. In the Adult and Youth Category the programme should include at least two different stylistic periods or musical genres/styles.
The total duration shall be not less than 10 minutes and not longer than 20 minutes.
Each piece must be performed in one take (without interruption), with or without the presence of an audience.
There shall be no editing of the recording. The recording must have been made after 1 January 2012.
Youth and Adult Choirs
At least two pieces must be sung without the use of any instruments at all (body-produced sound effects are allowed). The rest of the programme may include non pitch-giving instruments, but these should be played by members of the choir.
Open Category
At least two pieces must be sung entirely without the use of instruments (body-produced sound effects are allowed). The rest of the programme may include up to three instruments of any kind, which may be played by active members of the choir or other amateur musicians.
The use of instruments must occur only as accompaniment and must not play a leading role in the performance. Credit will be given to choirs who focus their performance on a cappella choral singing.
Choirs are not permitted to use any kind of amplification or other electronic manipulation of the natural choral balance and sound.
b) Finals
The finals shall be held in the form of a public concert broadcast live in October 2013.
The finalists will be invited by the host organization to participate live in the finals, preferably in person at the venue selected for the Competition final, and are strongly encouraged to do so. Participation will be at the choirs own cost. If they are unable to travel to take part, they may participate in the Competition from their home country, with their performance relayed to the jury, on condition that a professional radio transmission of their performance can be organized. In this case, the choirs should send a representative to the finals. If a Radio professional transmission is not possible, the choir shall be obliged to participate on site and at its own cost.
There may not be more than one choir from the same country in each category.
The jury shall listen to the participating choirs on conditions which put all choirs on the same footing.
Youth and Adult Categories
In the Youth and Adult Categories, each ensemble shall perform a programme of a maximum of 10 minutes. The programme may consist of several works, or a single one. The programme must be different from that of the semi-finals. There will be no restrictions as to period and style: the programme should simply show the choir at its best.
At least one piece must be sung without the use of any instruments. The rest of the programme may include non pitch-giving instruments played by members of the choir.
If the programme consists of only one piece, this must be sung without the use of any instruments (body-produced sound effects are allowed).
Open Category
Each ensemble shall perform a programme of a maximum of 10 minutes. The programme may consist of several works or a single one. The programme must be different from that of the semi-finals. There will be no restrictions as to period and style: the programme should simply show the choir at its best. The programme must be performed completely acoustically, without any kind of amplification or electronic manipulation of the voices.
At least one piece must be sung without the use of any instruments. The rest of the programme may include up to three instruments of any kind, which must be played by active members of the choir or by other amateur musicians.
Instruments may be used only as accompaniment and may not play a leading role in the performance.
If the programme consists of only one piece, this must be sung without the use of any instruments (body-produced sound effects are allowed).
5. Prizes
There shall be a prize-winner in each category.
The Silver Rose Bowl, the trophy of the overall winner, shall be awarded at the end of the finals to the category winning choir which has given the most convincing performance.
The overall winner of the 2011 Competition, the Swedish Chamber Choir, Sweden, shall perform outside of the Competition at the finals of the 2013 Competition.
Each participating choir and Radio organization shall receive a certificate prepared by the host organization. The finalists and the Radio organizations presenting them shall receive a diploma prepared by the host organization, mentioning their ranking in the finals.
6. Radio broadcasts and promotion
A pink offer featuring all the participants in each of the three categories in the semi-finals shall be produced by the host organization and distributed by the Permanent Services by 31 March 2013.
Each participating organization shall ensure that all the performances of the choir(s) which it presents may be broadcast at no cost on any non-downloadable media platform and without any restrictions as to the number of broadcasts or deadline by all EBU Radio Members.
If at all possible, the organization having presented the choir which is awarded the 2013 Silver Rose Bowl shall organize, along with this ensemble, a live concert as part of the "A la carte" Monday night concerts during the 2014-2015 Euroradio Season. It is desirable that the 2013 prize-winning choirs in their respective categories also participate in this concert, possibly as a multiplex broadcast from their home country. Any organizational questions shall be the responsibility of the EBU Members which presented them.
European Choral Association - Europa Cantat will provide promotion for the Competition in its magazine and on its Web site.
7. Jury
The works presented shall be evaluated at the host organization's headquarters by an international jury of seven members, including the Chairman.
The EBU Music Group shall appoint in autumn 2012 the members and Chairman of the jury, which ideally shall include:
a) a representative of the host organization;
b) representatives of four other EBU Active Members;
c) a representative of an EBU Associate Member;
d) a representative of the world of choral music
Travel and accommodation costs for the jury members shall be borne by their respective organization.
8. General conditions
All decisions of the jury shall be final, and no appeal against the organization, proceedings or results of the Competition shall be allowed.
Participation in the Competition shall imply full and complete acceptance of the articles of the present Regulations, and each participating organization shall release the EBU and the other participating organizations from any and all responsibility with respect to any complaints launched by the choir(es) which that organization had presented.
