Competition rules


Associazione Ensemble Serenissima of Sacile (Pordenone, Italy), in collaboration with Pizzicato Verlag Helvetia Publishing House, announces the ninth edition of the international symphonic composition competition "9th INTERNATIONAL COMPOSITION PRIZE – SEM 2024”. The winning composition will be performed by the 28th FVG International Music Meeting Orchestra during the final orchestra concert, which will take place in July 2024 and it will be published by Pizzicato Verlag Helvetia publishing house.

 

 

Art.1 – COMPETITION ANNOUNCEMENT

The competition is open to musicians of all nationalities with no age limit.

 

 

Art.2 – CHARACTERISTICS OF COMPETITION SCORES

The submitted compositions, for symphony orchestra without soloists, must not have been (either wholly or partially): published, won prizes in other competitions, performed in public concerts, broadcast on the web, broadcast on radio and/or television or recorded for commercial use.

The instrumentation must consist of not more than the following instruments:

2 flutes (one of which may be a piccolo);

2 oboes (one of which may be an English horn);

2 clarinets (one of which may be a bass clarinet);

2 bassoons (one of which may be a contrabassoon);

2 horns;

2 trumpets;

tympani (and no other percussion instruments);

piano;

strings (violins I and II, violas, cellos, basses).

It is not essential to use the full orchestra.

PA System is not permitted.

The length of the composition must be between approximately four (4) and eight (8) minutes.

The following must appear on the title page of the composition

- author's name and surname

- title of the composition

- duration of the composition

Compositions that do not meet the above requirements will be excluded from the competition.

Composers should bear in mind that the orchestra to which the performance will be entrusted will not be a permanent orchestra, but rather a group made up mostly of participants in the International Music Meeting's masterclasses: therefore, young instrumentalists who are technically prepared but whose orchestral experience is still being formed. It is therefore recommended that the degree of difficulty of the ensemble be reasonably limited, so that the performance can best focus on the composer's musical and expressive intentions.

 

 

Art.3 – ENTRIES DEADLINE

The application form must reach the competition secretariat by midnight on 30th April 2024 (the date and time of receipt indicated by the computer will be taken as the official date and time) and may only be submitted online, by filling in all parts of the ENTRY FORM published on the competition website at www.internationalcompositionprize.it or on the website of the Ensemble Serenissima association at www.ensembleserenissima.com and proceeding to send it electronically in accordance with the instructions on the website.

 

 

Art.4 – PARTICIATION ARRANGEMENTS

Participation in the competition is subject to the payment - by bank transfer or by PayPal - of an entry fee (non-refundable) of € 50.00.

The IBAN on which to make the payment is:

IT52T0835664990000000010900 - BCC  Pordenonese – Branch Sacile (Italy). 

BIC/SWIFT: ICRAITRR9W0

Headed to: Associazione Ensemble Serenissima

Viale Zancanaro, 10

33077 Sacile (PN) – Italy

In the reason for payment specify: 9th International Composition Prize SEM 2024.

Payment via PayPal to the account info@ensembleserenissima.com is also possible.

Each participant may compete with several works by making a separate entry for each work with the relative fee.

 

 

Art.5 – HOW TO FORWARD DOCUMENTS AND CONDUCT OF THE COMPETITION

Applicants must enclose with their application:

1) Receipt of payment of the competition entry fee in JPG or PDF format.

2) Score in PDF format: participants must submit a complete score, written with a computer program and perfectly legible (under penalty of exclusion from the competition at the sole discretion of the Selection Committee).

3) Copy of a valid identity document or passport in JPG or PDF format.

4) Recent photo of the participant (for possible press use) in JPG or PDF format.

5) A brief curriculum vitae in Italian and/or English in PDF format.

6) Declaration of exclusive authorship of the works submitted in PDF format, duly completed and signed, using the MODEL downloadable from the official website www.internationalcompositionprize.it/download or from the Association's website www.ensembleserenissima.com

Upon completion, in an optional form, participants can also send:

- a Midi simulation in MP3 Format which will only be a complementary support for the Jury, considering that the judgment will be based exclusively on reading the score;

 - a brief description, didactic note (in PDF format) on the work, written in Italian and/or English.

 

The outcome of the competition will be announced by June 16th 2024. The winner (and/or the author of a piece that has been recommended for performance, if any) must create and send the complete orchestra material (all the parts of the individual instruments in PDF format) by the peremptory deadline of 2nd July 2024, exclusively via e-mail at internationalcompositionprize@gmail.com

If, for any reason whatsoever, the winner and/or any recommended entrants fail to meet this deadline (or if the material is incomplete or graphically incompatible with normal professional use) they shall forfeit all rights to the prize money and to the performance and publication of the piece

 

 

Art.6 – JURY PANEL

The Jury will be chaired by Maestro Daniele Zanettovich and composed of eminent personalities from the world of contemporary music and composition at international level. The composition of the Jury will be announced, on the competition and Association websites, at the end of the application deadline.

The Jury's decisions are final and irrevocable.

It reserves the right not to award the prize should none of the works be deemed worthy and/or exceed the limits of difficulty set out in Article 2. The Jury, at its sole discretion, may also single out one or more works for merit.

Should a member of the Jury identify among the participants in the Competition a relative (up to the fourth degree) or a pupil with whom he or she has had teaching relations within the two years preceding the deadline of the competition, he or she must make an explicit declaration and refrain from any evaluation regarding the relative score.

 

 

Art.7 - AWARDS

The winner of the competition will be awarded:

- a prize of two thousand five hundred euros (€ 2.500), gross of taxes and fees (the Prize may be divided between more than one participants);

- a certificate and the trophy;

- the performance of the piece during the orchestra's final concert as part of the 28th edition of the FVG International Music Meeting;

publication by the Pizzicato Verlag Helvetia publishing house. Those who are bound by an exclusive contract with a publishing house will have to produce an appropriate release.

The work may also be audio/video recorded and may be included in the Festival's live CD and DVD.

The Jury (see Article 6) has the faculty to point out other pieces that, even if they do not win, may be performed during the final concert of the orchestra, within the 28th edition of the FVG International Music Meeting and eventually be included in the CD and in the live DVD of the Festival. A certificate will be issued to the authors of the winning compositions.

At the same time as the publication of the results on the competition website, the composers declared winners (or recommended) will be notified by e-mail.

 

 

Art.8 – GENERAL CONDITIONS AND PRIVACY POLICY

Nothing will be due by the Competition Organization for the complete orchestral parts and their use in occasions related to the event. On these occasions, moreover, any television or radio recordings and broadcasts of the winning (or nominated) score on websites are authorised by the author without any additional charge to the organisation. The Association will keep the score and the orchestral material in its archives and may also re-use it for other possible performances - sponsored by the Association itself - at no charge, without prejudice to the performance rights due to the author of the work.

Pursuant to Article 13 of the GDPR 2016/679 (E.U. General Data Protection Regulation) and Article 13 of the Italian D.Lgs 196/2003 we inform you that personal relating to the participants are used solely for the purposes of the competition.

 

 

Art.9 - RESPONSABILITY

Associazione Ensemble Serenissima declines all responsibility in the event of defective or non-receipt - for any reason whatsoever - of the material sent, although it will try - within the limits of its possibilities - to warn the interested party in the event that the documentation should arrive incomplete or illegible.

The organisation declines all responsibility in the event of copyright infringement by competitors.

 

 

Art.10 - ACCEPTANCE

Participation in the "9th International Composition Prize SEM 2024" implies the unconditional acceptance by the participant of all the rules set out in the competition announcement.

 

 

Art.11 - LEGAL NOTICE

The organisation reserves the right to make changes to these regulations at any time, giving immediate notice on the official website www.internationalcompositionprize.it and on the Association's website www.ensembleserenissima.com.

In the event of disputes, the only legally valid text will be the notice in Italian language, complete with 11 (eleven) articles. The Court of Pordenone shall have exclusive jurisdiction.

 

 

For any information, contestants can write to the contest secretariat at internationalcompositionprize@gmail.com