Open Competition: Categories

- The multiple categories offer each choir the opportunity to express its own traditions and strengths.- A program should reflect the choral music of different countries. At the same time, the idea of the event encourages choirs to take an interest in cultural and musical traditions elsewhere in the world and will perform at least one piece that does not have its origins in their native cultural circles.- Thoughtful consideration should be given to the dramatic arc of the overall program.- The character and degree of difficulty of the program for Children’s and Youth categories should correspond with the age of the singers. - Dependent on their result, African and Asian choirs of the Open Competition with a golden diploma can either compete in the Champions Competition or in the Grand Prix of Nations. - Non-African and Non-Asian Choirs that receive a golden diploma with at least 23.00 points have the possibility to participate in the Grand Prix of Nations

1 Children’s Choirs S(S)A(A), girls and boys ages 6 – 16 2 Youth Choirs* (Mixed and Equal Voices) ages 12 – 22 3 Chamber Choirs / Vocal Ensembles* (usual formations of mixed and equal voices) 4 Adult Choirs* (Mixed Choirs, Female Choirs, Male Choirs) * Depending on the number of registrations in this category the Artistic Committee reserves the right to split the category up into mixed and equal voices OR mixed, male and female voices in the Open and Champions Competition

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. A jury of five international music experts will evaluate the Open Competition. The decisions of the jury cannot be contested. The evaluation of the competition is based on the MUSICA MUNDI Evaluation System. The performance of every composition will be evaluated according to the following: I) Technical Evaluation a) Intonation b) Sound quality of the choir II) Artistic Evaluation c1) Fidelity to the score (in general categories) c2) Interpretation practice (in Jazz, Pop, Show) c3) Authenticity (in Folklore categories, Gospel, Spiritual and Music of Spirit and Faith) d) Overall artistic impression In categories where the number of compositions is determined, the jury will evaluate every composition according to criteria a) intonation and c) fidelity to the score, interpretation practice or authenticity. They will evaluate the overall performance ac cording to criteria b) sound quality of the choir and d) overall artistic impression. The jury will decide whether a choir has qualified for a diploma. Choirs receiving no diploma will get a certificate of participa tion. Choirs that have qualified for a diploma will be given 1 to 30 points