Competition rules
The Ensemble Serenissima Association of Sacile (Pordenone, Italy), in collaboration with the Pizzicato Verlag Helvetia Publishing House, announces the tenth edition of the international symphonic composition competition «INTERNATIONAL COMPOSITION PRIZE – SEM 2025». The awarded composition will be performed by the Orchestra of the XXIX FVG International Music Meeting during the final concert to be held in July 2025 and will be published by the Pizzicato Verlag Helvetia Publishing House.
Art.1 – COMPETITION ANNOUNCEMENT
Participation is open to musicians of any nationality, with no age limits.
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 maximum instrumentation consists exclusively of:
2 flutes (one optionally piccolo);
2 oboes (one optionally English horn);
2 clarinets (one optionally bass clarinet);
2 bassoons (one optionally contrabassoon);
2 horns;
2 trumpets;
tympani (and no other percussion instruments);
piano;
strings (violins I and II, violas, cellos, and double basses).
It is not mandatory to use the entire instrumentation, and adding additional instruments is not allowed.
PA System is not permitted. The duration of the composition should range between four (4) and eight (8) minutes approximately.
The front page of the composition must include:
- author's full name
- title of the composition
- duration of the composition
Compositions that do not meet the specified requirements will be disqualified from the competition.
Participants should consider that the orchestra assigned to perform will not be a permanent orchestra, but rather a group mostly composed of participants in the International Music Meeting's advanced courses: young musicians technically proficient but with developing orchestral experience. Therefore, it is advised to reasonably consider the difficulty level of the ensemble, allowing the performance to focus effectively on the composer's musical and expressive intentions.
Art.3 – ENTRIES DEADLINE
Applications for registration must be submitted to the competition's secretariat by 24:00 on April 30, 2025 (the date and time of receipt indicated by the computer will be considered as proof) and can only be submitted online by fully completing the registration FORM
available on the competition's website at www.internationalcompositionprize.it or on the website of the Ensemble Serenissima Association at www.ensembleserenissima.com and then submitting it electronically according to the instructions on the website.
Art.4 – MODE OF PARTICIPATION
Participation in the competition is subject to the payment of a non-refundable registration fee of €50.00 made via bank transfer or PayPal.
The IBAN for the payment is:
IT52T0835664990000000010900 - BCC Pordenonese – Sacile branch (Italy)
BIC/SWIFT: ICRAITRR9W0
Account holder: Associazione Ensemble Serenissima
Viale Zancanaro, 10 - 33077 Sacile (PN) – Italy
In the payment reference, please specify: 10th International Composition Prize SEM 2025.
Payment via PayPal is also possible to the account info@ensembleserenissima.com.
Each participant may submit multiple works, provided that each work is registered separately with the corresponding fee.
Art.5 – METHOD OF SUBMISSION OF MATERIAL AND CONDUCT OF THE COMPETITION
Candidates must attach the following documents to the registration form:
1) Receipt of the payment of the registration fee for the competition in JPG or PDF format.
2) Score in PDF format: participants must submit a complete score, created using music notation software and perfectly legible (failure to do so will result in disqualification from the competition at the sole discretion of the judging panel).
3) A copy of a valid ID card or passport in JPG or PDF format.
4) A recent photo of the participant (for potential print use) in JPG or PDF format.
5) A short curriculum vitae in Italian and/or English in PDF format.
6) A declaration of exclusive authorship of the submitted works in PDF format, duly filled out and signed, using the FORM downloadable from the official website www.internationalcompositionprize.it or from the Association's website www.ensembleserenissima.com
Additionally, on an optional and voluntary basis, participants may also submit:
- A MIDI simulation in MP3 format, which will serve as a complementary support for the Jury, as the judgment will be based solely on the reading of the score.
- A brief explanatory note (in PDF format) regarding the work, written in Italian and/or English.
The results of the competition will be announced by June 16, 2025. The winner (and/or the author of a piece potentially shortlisted for performance) must ensure the creation and submission via email to internationalcompositionprize@gmail.com of the complete orchestral material (all individual instrumental parts in PDF format) by the mandatory deadline of July 2, 2025. If, for any reason, the winner and/or any shortlisted participants fail to meet this deadline (or if the material is incomplete or graphically incompatible with professional use), they will forfeit any rights to the prize amount 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 figures from the world of music and contemporary composition at the international level. The composition of the Jury will be announced on the competition's website once the deadline for submitting applications has passed.
The decisions of the Jury are final and not subject to appeal. The Jury reserves the right not to award the prize if 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 recommend one or more works.
If a member of the Jury identifies a relative (up to the 4th degree) or a student with whom they have had teaching relations within the two years prior to the competition deadline, they must make an explicit declaration and refrain from any evaluation regarding the relevant score.
Art.7 - AWARDS
The winner of the competition will receive:
- a prize of two thousand five hundred euros (€2,500), gross of taxes (the prize may be divided);
- a certificate and the trophy;
- the performance of the piece during the final concert of the orchestra, as part of the 29th edition of the FVG International Music Meeting;;
- publication by the Pizzicato Verlag Helvetia Publishing House. Those bound by an exclusive contract with a publishing house must provide a specific release.
The work may also be recorded audio/video and included in the live CD and DVD of the Festival.
The Jury (see Art. 6) has the discretion to recommend other works that, although not winners, may be performed during the final concert of the orchestra, as part of the 29th edition of the FVG International Music Meeting, and potentially included in the live CD and DVD of the Festival. Authors of the recommended compositions will receive a certificate.
Simultaneously with the publication of the results on the competition's website, the composers declared winners (or recommended) will be notified by email.
Art.8 – GENERAL CONDITIONS AND PRIVACY POLICY
Nothing will be owed by the competition organization for the creation and use of the orchestral material in connection with the event. Additionally, any television, radio broadcasts, recordings, and dissemination of the winning (or recommended) score on websites are authorized by the author without any additional costs to the organization. The Association will retain the score and orchestral material in its archives and may reuse them for other potential performances - sponsored by the Association itself - without rental fees, while maintaining the performance rights of the author of the work.
In accordance with Articles 13 of the GDPR 2016/679 (EU General Data Protection Regulation) and 13 of Legislative Decree 196/2003 "Code regarding the protection of personal data," it is informed that personal data related to the participants are used solely for the purposes of the competition.
Art.9 - RESPONSABILITY
The Ensemble Serenissima Association disclaims any responsibility in case of faulty or failed receipt - for any reason - of the submitted material, although it will try - within its means - to notify the applicant if the documentation is incomplete or illegible.
The organization disclaims any responsibility in case of copyright infringement by the participants.
Art.10 - ACCEPTANCE
Participation in the «10th International Composition Prize SEM 2025» implies the unconditional acceptance by the participant of all the rules established by the competition's regulations.
Art.11 - LEGAL NOTICE
The organization reserves the right to make changes to the regulations at any time, with immediate communication posted on the official website www.internationalcompositionprize.it and on the Association's website www.ensembleserenissima.com.
In case of disputes, the only legally valid text will be this notice in Italian, complete with 11 (eleven) articles. The competent court will be exclusively the Court of Pordenone.
For any information, contestants can write to the contest secretariat at internationalcompositionprize@gmail.com