COMPETITION RULES

The international choir festival IFAS is an exhibition of choirs connected with an international competition. The festival prizes are both material and financial: the main festival award is GRAND PRIX - IFAS 2024, Pardubice University Rector's Award, Bohuslav Martinů Award and The Year of Czech Music Award.

1. Competition programme
   1. Categories A1, A2, A3 with the possibility of advancing to GP

      Prices in categories A are subsidized by 30 000,00 CZK.

      The total net length of the performance, including the required composition, should be 15-17 minutes.

      1. obligatory compositions by Czech jubilant authors

         A1 – mixed choirs	Petr Eben (1929-2007)	Salve Regina
         A2 – mixed chamber choirs	Bohuslav Martinů (1890-1959)	Sen (z cyklu „Čtyři písně o Marii“, č. 2)
         A3 – women’s choirs	Petr Eben (1929-2007)	De angelis

      2. renaissance or Baroque polyphonic composition
      3. composition written after 1950
      4. composition from the Romantic period (categories A1, A3 only)
      5. optional composition(s)

      The order of programme is at the director's discretion.

      All compositions must be performed a cappella!!!

      Song performed in this category may not be used in any of the other categories.

   2. Category B

      The total net length of the performanceshould be 15-17 minutes.

      Free dramaturgy contrasting program.

   3. Categories C and D

      Prices in categories C and D are subsidized by 20 000,00 CZK.

      Total net length of the performance should be 8-10 minutes.

      1. Category C1

         Compositions of one style of art music - e.g. Renaissance or Baroque music, sacred music, romantic, music of 20th century etc. In 1 composition a music instrument can be used, the others a cappella!

      2. Category C2

         Jazz, pop, spirituals, gospel (no art music or folk-based compositions), 1 composition a cappella, in the others can be used 1-3 accompanying instruments.

      3. Category D1

         1. an arrangement of a folk song from the country represented by the choir

         2. an arrangement of a folk song from a foreign country

         3. a composition based on a folk text

         The order of programme is at the director's discretion.

         A cappella only!

      4. Category D2

         A performance of folk songs only from the country represented by the choir. An additional evaluative criterion for this category is the overall impression - choreography, costumes, etc.

         Using musical instruments is possible.

   4. Competition programme for category BM - Bohuslav Martinů

      Prices in this category are subsidized by 10 000,00 CZK.

      Total net length of the performance should be 12-14 minutes

      1. a composition by Bohuslav Martinů

      2. optional programme, incl. compositions from at least 2 style periods

      The order of programme is at the director's discretion

      The choir may not repeat compositions performed in other categories.

2. The choirs evaluations

   An international jury will evaluate the competition.

   The choirs will be evaluated on a point system (0-30 points).

   1. The choirs competing in categories A, B, C, D1 and BM will be evaluated on a point system based on the following criteria:

      1. vocal quality and technique
      2. intonation and rhythm
      3. dynamics and style of the performed compositions
      4. the quality of the programme literature

   2. category D2:

      • overall impression of the performance

   A choir's point total may be lowered if the choir exceeds the competition programme time limit.

3. Levels

   1. The jury will place the choirs according to point in categories A, B, C, D1 and BM totals as stated below:

      Gold level	25 - 30 points
      Silver level	20 - 24,99 points
      Bronze level	15 - 19,99 points

   2. The points earned in Gold level will decide about the placement of the 3 best choirs.

   3. The place of the best choir from category D2 will be decided by the number of points earned in the category.

   4. The winner of Grand Prix IFAS 2024 is a category A choir with the highest score, at least 28.00. If no choir reaches this limit, the Grand Prix IFAS 2024 holder will not be announced.

   5. The winner of Bohuslav Martinů Award became the best evaluated choir in the gold level in the category BM.

   6. The winner of the University Rector's Award is the best-rated university choir in the category A.

   7. The winner of the Award of the Year Czech Music is the choir with the best performance of a required composition by a Czech author.

4. The Jury's decisions are final without appeal.

5. The organizing committee reserves the right to award further festival prizes (financial and/or material), if recommended by the jury or the audience.

6. The results of the international competition will be entered into the final record of IFAS 2024