Main organizators of festival are:
Ministry of education, science, research and sport SR
Matej Bel University in Banská Bystrica
Center of fine Arts and Culture, Faculty of Education MBU in Banská Bystrica
Deadline for applications until April 14th 2023
The following must be sent with the application:
- a brief history of the choir
- 2 high-quality photos of the choir
- the choir's competition program (indicating the minutes of the compositions, the full names of the composers and one copy of the scores in electronic form).
ABB 2023 Competition Rules
Categories:
- A University Choirs
- A1 Mixed choirs
- A2 Women's choirs
- A3 Male choirs
- A4 Chamber mixed choirs
- B High school choirs
- C Vocal groupings
- D Sacred music
Number of singers for each category and age
- A University Choirs
- A1 Mixed choirs 25 – 45
- A2 Women's choirs 15 – 45
- A3 Male choirs 15 – 45
- A4 Chamber mixed choirs 12 – 24
- B Secondary school choirs 15 – 45
- C Vocal groupings 4 – 11
- D Sacral formation max. 45
Competition repertoire:
Free selection of compositions in the length of max. 12 min.
The registered choir will send the scores of all the competition pieces electronically to akademickabb@gmail.com
Valuation
Individual performances are evaluated by a 3 – 5 member international jury
The performances of the choirs will be evaluated using a point system (0-100 points), taking into account the following criteria:
- singing technique and culture
- articulation and pronunciation
- intonation and rhythm
- expression and style
- selection and dramaturgy of the competition repertoire
- the sophistication of the scenic design
Based on the jury's evaluation, the following prizes will be awarded:
- gold band 100 – 90 points
- silver band 89 – 80 points
- bronze band 79 –70 points
Prices:
- Banská Bystrica Mayor's Award "Best Slovak Choir"
- Prize of the music department of Matica slovenska "For the development of performance art in the field of choral singing"
- Award of the Ministry of Education of the Slovak Republic to the "Absolute winner of Academic Banská Bystrica"
- UMB Rector's Award "For Impressive Dramaturgy"
- Award of the diocesan bishop of Banská Bystrica "For the best interpretation of a composition with a sacred theme"
The costs associated with transport are covered by each church itself.
The organizing committee of the festival reserves the right to reject the choir due to an excessive number of applications.
After deciding on the results of the competition and awarding the prizes, the jury will write the minutes. The jury's decision is final and cannot be appealed. The jury proposes the awarding of the choirs according to point 8 and determines the program of the winners' concert.
Each choir will also participate in evening gala concerts: opening concert, I. and II. gala concert according to the instructions of the organizers. As part of the final gala concert, there will also be a winners' concert, which will be attended by the winning choirs with songs chosen by the judges.