The regulations of the competition

5th International Chopin Piano and Vocal Competition

Saint Petersburg, Russia 

THE COMPETITION REGULATIONS

 

1. 5th Chopin International Piano and Vocal Competition will be held in St. Petersburg from 7 to 14 November 2015.

2. The competition is open for the participation of the musicians – students and graduates of children's music schools, children's schools of arts, lyceums, gymnasiums, colleges, specialized secondary schools and higher educational institutions.

3. Competition categories:

• Piano
• Vocal
• Amateur vocal

Age groups

Piano

A – up to 12 years old

B – students of music schools and schools of arts from 13 up to 16 years;

C – college and gymnasium students from 17 years;

D – high school, academy and conservatory students and their graduates (the maximum age is not limited).

Vocal

A – 17-22 years;

B – 23-28 years;

C – 29-38 years.

Amateur Vocal

21-38 years.

4. The age of the competitors is defined as on November 1, 2015. Citizenship and nationality has no bearing.

5. The performance of the participants is judge by a competent jury.

Jury members

• Sergei Slonimsky – Chairman

People's Artist of the USSR, State Prizes laureate, Professor St.Petersburg State Conservatory

• Pavel Egorov, People's Artist of Russia, Professor St.Petersburg State Conservatory

• Ekaterina Murina, People's Artist of Russia, Professor St.Petersburg State Conservatory

• Atanas Kurtev, Professor at the National Academy of Music “Pancho Vladigerov” (Sofia, Bulgaria)

• Christian Knapp, Conductor at the State Mariinsky Theatre (St. Petersburg)

• Sergei Naida, Tenor (Germany)

• Olga Okhromenko, Solo pianist at the State Mariinsky Theatre Orchestra and opera coach (St. Petersburg)

• Andrei Slavny, baritone, Docent St.Petersburg State Conservatory (St. Petersburg)

•  Katarzyna  Mackiewicz, Soprano soloist at the State Musical Comedy Theatre (St. Petersburg)
•   Mattias Milder, baritone soloist at the Royal Swedish Opera (Stockholm, Sweden)

• Margareta Haverinen, Sopran soloist at several opera theatres in Scandinavian countries and Western Europe (Helsinki, Finnland)

• Wanda Andrievskaya, Pianist, teacher at the Rachmaninov School of Arts, Chairman of the St. Petersburg Chopin Society (St. Petersburg, Russia)

 

6. The decisions of the jury for each and every round of the competition is final and may not be appealed. The scoring is done according to the 10-point system. The members of the jury are not allowed to judge their own students participating in the competition. The performances are judged by the jury according to the 10-point scoring system. The scores achieved by a performer are summarized and then the average score is calculated. The award-winning places are determined after the final round on the basis of a total number of points of all the rounds.

The performances are judged according to the following criteria: technical quality of the performance, expression, mastering of the form of the performed piece, mastering of the music style of the performed piece, artistic impression, conformance of the performed repertoire to the age and abilities of the performer, novelty and credibility of the interpretation. 

The points answer to the following qualitative marks:

1        – very bad, 2 – bad, 3 – mediocre, 4 – tolerable, 5 – not good enough, 6 – good, 7 — very good, 8 – excellent, 9 – wonderful, 10 – superb.

The members of the jury vote by secret ballot, the results of the ballot are then published in the competition bulletin.

7. All participants are encouraged to attend the Draw on November 7, 2015 at 11.00 a.m. at the Rachmaninov School of Arts and the Opening Ceremony on the same day at 2.00 p.m. at Mikhail Glinka Small Hall of the St. Petersburg Philharmonia. During the Draw procedure participants will select their own order of performance.  Participants who are unable to attend the Draw must send a request via e-mail to the Organizing Committee of the competition rahmaninovinfo@yandex.ru prior to November 6, 2015 so that a number may be drawn on behalf of the participant.  The results of the draw for all participants will be posted online at the competition website.

8. In the groups A and B of the Piano category, the competition will be held in one round. In the groups C and D of the Piano category and in all the groups of the Vocal and Amateur Vocal categories, the competition will be held in two rounds. No more than 50% of the participants of the elimination round are allowed to take part in the 2nd round. The winners of the first three places of the competition are given the title of the Award Winner. The participants of the final round, who hasn't won the award are given the title of the Diploma Winners. Upon the decision of the jury selected participants of the 2nd round can be awarded special diplomas and prizes. Accompanists for the Award Winners in the nomination “Solo Singing” are also awarded with diplomas.

9. In order to participate in the competition the applicant should supply to the Organizing Committee the following:

- an application according to the approved form;

- concise artistic biography with the list of opera parts in the repertoire (only for Vocal category);

- photo for publications in the booklet and on the web-site.

10. The program for the performances should be stated in the application form and conform to the program requirements.

11. The applications are accepted in electronic form either as text or a scanned document.

Deadline for applications is October 10, 2015

E-mail for applications:  rahmaninovinfo@yandex.ru

12. The winners of the competition are awarded with monetary prizes. The prize fund is formed out of the sponsor provisions and voluntary contributions of the participants. Award and Diploma Winners of the competition may be also awarded with the special prizes by sponsor organizations and members of the jury.

13.  The auditions for the competition will be held at the Big Concert Hall of the Rachmaninov School of Arts, 2 Korolenko str., 191104 St. Petersburg. The opening ceremony and winners` concert will be held at Mikhail Glinka Small Hall of the St. Petersburg Philharmonia, Nevsky av., 30

14. Any corrections to the provided program of the performances are allowed strictly until the end of the application period (October 10, 2015), after which date no changes in the program are allowed.

15．The competition program must be played by heart. All the vocal works are to perform in their original languages.

16. The participants in the vocal category perform to the accompaniment of their accompanists. In case if such need arises the Organizing Committee can assist in finding and/or supplying the accompanist. In this case this need should be stated in the application form. After October 10 (end of the application period) no requests for the accompanists are accepted. The accompanist fees are reinstated directly by the participants.

17. In case if such a need arises the Organizing Committee can assist the participants from other cities in finding the accommodation in St. Petersburg. This need should be stated in the application form. All expenses for their stay in St. Petersburg are carried by the participants.

18. The participants from other cities for the duration of the competition can practice in the study rooms of the St. Petersburg School of Arts for Children n.a. S.V. Rachmaninov. The practice rooms are available for free in the morning or in the evening (from 9.00 a.m. to 2.00 p.m. and from 7.00 p.m. to 9.30 p.m.)

19. An Organizing Committee including the representatives of the Committee for Culture of the St. Petersburg City Administration, the Administration of the Central District of St. Petersburg, the St. Petersburg Chopin Society and the Rachmaninov School of Arts is formed for the preparation and holding of the competition.

ROUNDS AND REPERTOIRE

Category “Piano”

Age group “A”

 

1. F. Chopin, One or more works by free choice
2. S. Slonimsky, One or more works by free choice

 

Max. performance duration: 15 min.

Age group “B”

 

1. F. Chopin, One or more works by free choice

1. F. Chopin, One of the following works:

• Nocturne op.9 №2 in E flat major

or

• Nocturne op. posth. in C sharp minor

1. S. Slonimsky, One or more works by free choice

 

Max. performance duration: 20 min.

Age group “C” 

Round I

1. F. Chopin, One of the etudes from op.10 & op.25, excepting op.10 №№3, 6 and op.25 №7
2. Moritz Moszkowski, One of the following etudes:

• ор.72 №№1, 5, 6,11, 13, 14 ор.66 №1
• ор.36 №4 "En automne", №6 "Étincelles"
• ор.52 №4 “La jongleuse”
• ор.31 №2 “Mélodie”
• ор.32 №2 in D major
• op. 67 №2 in G minor
• ор.75 №2 “L'agilità”
• op. 86 №3 “Scherzo-Étude”
• op.93 №4 in A minor
• op. 58 №7 “Rêve étrange”

1. F. Chopin, Fantaisie-Impromtu op.66 in C sharp minor

 

Max. performance duration: 25 min.

Round II

 

1. F. Chopin. One Polonaise, or one Scherzo, or one Ballad by free choice
2. F. Chopin, Two or three Mazurkas by free choice
3. F. Chopin, One or more (max. 3) Waltzes by free choice

 

Max. performance duration: 25 min.

Age group “D” 

Round I 

1. F. Chopin, One of the etudes from op.10 & op.25, excepting op.10 №№3, 6 and op.25 №7
2. F. Chopin, One of the following nocturnes: op.32 №1 in B major, op.62 №2 in E major
3. I. Paderewski, One work by free choice (optional work; participants are allowed not to play this work)

 

Max. performance duration: 20 min

Round II

 

1. F. Chopin, One of the following works: Scherzo, Ballad, Fantaisie op.49, Barcarolle op.60, 1^st movement from one of the sonatas)
2. F. Chopin, Mazurkas (not less than three) by free choice
3. F. Chopin, One of the nocturnes by free choice

NB – Repertoire of the 1^st round may not be repeated in the 2^nd round

 

Max. performance duration: 25 min 

Category “Vocal” 

Age group “A”

Round I

 

1. F. Chopin, Two songs by free choice
2. One work of a Polish composer by free choice
3. Aria from an opera by a West-European composer by free choice

 

Max. performance duration: 15 min

Round II

 

1. F. Chopin, One song by free choice
2. One work by a Polish composer by free choice
3. Aria from an opera by a Polish composer by free choice

 

NB – Repertoire of the 1^st round may not be repeated in the 2^nd round

 

Max. performance duration: 20 min

Age group “B”

Round I

 

1. F. Chopin, Two songs by free choice
2. One work of a Polish composer by free choice
3. One work of chamber music by a West-European composer by free choice
4. Aria from an opera by a Polish composer by free choice

 

Max. performance duration: 15 min

Round II

 

1. F. Chopin, Two songs by free choice
2. One work of a Polish composer by free choice
3. Aria from an opera by a West-European composer by free choice

 

NB – Repertoire of the 1^st round may not be repeated in the 2^nd round

 

Max. performance duration: 20 min

Age group “C 

Round I

 

1. F. Chopin, Two songs by free choice
2. Aria from an opera by a West-European composer by free choice
3. Aria from an opera by a Polish composer by free choice
4. One work of chamber music by a Polish composer by free choice

 

Max. performance duration: 20 min

Round II

 

1. F. Chopin, One song by free choice
2. Aria from an opera by a West-European composer by free choice
3. One work of chamber music by a Polish composer by free choice
4. Aria from an opera by a Polish composer by free choice

 

NB – Repertoire of the 1^st round may not be repeated in the 2^nd round

 

Max. performance duration: 20 min

Category “Amateur vocal” 

Round I

 

1. F. Chopin, Two songs by free choice
2. One work by a Polish composer by free choice
3. Aria from an opera by a West-European composer by free choice

 

Max. performance duration: 15 min

Round II

 

1. F. Chopin, One song by free choice
2. One work by a Polish composer by free choice
3. Aria from an opera by a Polish composer by free choice

 

NB – Repertoire of the 1^st round may not be repeated in the 2^nd round

 

Max. performance duration: 15 min

CONTACTS 

Saint Petersburg School of Arts named after S. Rachmaninov

Korolenko str., 2, Saint-Petersburg 191104 Russian Federation

e-mail: rahmaninovinfo@yandex.ru

Competition director: Elena Okhromenko

Artistic director: Aleksandr Urmancheev

 

APPLICATION FORM

Last name
First name
Gender
Date of birth
Citizenship
Category
Age group
Voice type
Name of educational institution
Teacher
Repertoire (composer, tittle, number, key, opus, movements and timings)	1st round
	2nd Round
(for singers only) Name of accompanist
Applicant`s contacts (phone, e-mail)