Florilège vocal de Tours - International choral song competition

2011 International choral song competition

The competition begins on Friday 27 May 2011 and has three parts:

I. Qualifying Rounds
II. Final Rounds
III. Grand Prix Gala

The conductor of the choir will decide the order in which works are sung.
All works chosen should be sung in the original language.
Encores are strictly forbidden.
No musical instruments or percussion are allowed, except possibly to during the finals.
In categories I, II, III, no single work should last longer than half the amount of time taken to sing all the works during the qualifying and final rounds .This rule does not apply to Category IV or to the “Grand Prix of ville de Tours”.
For every category and in each round (qualifying and final) the total length of the works chosen must be between 9 and 13 minutes.

I. QUALIFYING ROUNDS
The choice of programme is left to each choir. It should comprise three works sung a cappella:

a work composed before 1750;
a work written between 1750 and 1900;
a work composed after 1900.

For category IV, the programme should contain a cappella works (max.3) different from those in the other chosen category. There is a free choice of works, by different composers. Non-melodic percussion instruments are allowed.

II. FINALS
For categories I, II and III, the programme should comprise three works different from those chosen for the qualifying rounds:

a work written after 1950;
a work written after 1940 by a French composer;
a free choice of work from any period.

One of the works may be accompanied on the piano (a piano will be available on the stage).
For Category IV, the programme will contain a cappella works (max. 3) not sung before. There is a free choice of works, by different composers. Non-melodic percussion instruments are allowed.
In addition, the final rounds will also be used to determine the award of the Public Prize.

III. GRAND PRIX
Among the choirs chosen for the finals, the Jury will pick out 4 or 5 of the best choirs to take part in the “Grand Prix of Ville de Tours”. At the end of this round the “Grand Prix of Ville de Tours” will be awarded to the choir whose performance has been judged to have been the best throughout the competition.
The chosen choirs will present a programme of their choice lasting between 18 and 22 minutes.
This programme should include at least:

one work by a French composer,
a work accompanied by 1 to 5 instruments of the choir’s choice (6 minutes maximum). The accompanists, and the instruments they are playing, should be notified in advance. Only a piano will be available on stage.

Non-melodic percussion instruments are allowed.
The works chosen should be from at least three different periods.
Only two works already sung during the qualifying or final rounds may be repeated.