9^th Festival Coros de Verão 2020

Festival Coral de Verão is only open to non-professional choirs i.e. members cannot be earning their living through singing. Participating choirs can be from conservatories or music academies.

Choirs should not have less than 16 members to compete, with the exclusion of the conductor and accompanist. There is no upper limit to the number of participants a choir may have. Special allowances can be made on a case-by-case basis, do email the organisers for any special requests and permissions.

There is no limit to the number of categories a choir may compete in. The categories in the competition are as below:

For each category, there is no restriction on the number of songs sung with or without original accompaniment. Due to staging restrictions, all accompaniment has to be acoustic only. Choirs are required to prepare three songs subject to the following requirements:

Participants must not exceed the age limit of a particular category in the year of the competition, in this case 2020. However, a maximum of 15% of the total choir members can exceed this limit provided there is a valid reason that must be accounted for to the organisers. There is no age restriction on participants competing in the Open Categories.

The intended competition repertoire including song title and composer must be submitted to the organisers together with the application for confirmation from the Artistic Committee that the category requirements are met. There will be no change in programme once it has been approved. Choirs competing in multiple categories should have a different set of programme for each category, i.e. songs should not be repeated for different categories.

All participating choirs are individually responsible for honouring copyright and performance rights of the songs. Each choir is to submit 5 original copies of each performance piece to the organisers for purpose of adjudication upon registration on 26^th June 2020. Theses scores should be labeled clearly with the choirs name for purpose of redistribution post-competition. Failure to comply with these regulations may result in demerit points or disqualification from the competition.

All published choral works may only be sung using original copies. The use of unauthorized/reproduced copies is strictly prohibited.

The pure singing time limit for each category is as allocated. This time limit excludes the time incurred by applause or by stage entry/exit. In the event the allotted time limit is exceeded, a penalty will be imposed based on the time exceeded and at the discretion of the jury.

All songs performed for the competition must be performed in the original key in accordance to the score submitted. No transpositions are allowed unless approved by the artistic committee prior to the festival.

With the application, all participating choirs agree to recordings and broadcasts in sound or television as well as any other recordings made in conjunction with the festival. Any use of unauthorised video or sound recording, amplification of voices or instruments other than the setup provided at the venues is strictly prohibited.

The jury panel consists of five judges. The decision of the jury is final. Original scoring sheets will be provided to the choirs after the competition. Upon tabulation of scores, the highest and lowest combined score among the judges will be excluded and the choir will be awarded points based on the average of the three remaining scores.

The assessment of the choirs will be on a 100-point scale based on the following criteria:

Each song will be scored on 50% on Artistic Performance and 50% on Technical Performance. An average of the 3 scores will be taken as the final score. A diploma indicating the level of achievement will be presented to the choir during the announcement of results.

Depending on the total achieved points, the jury shall award the following:

The jury can award special prizes if they deem a participating choir or conductor to deserve so.