Competition

The 32^th United States International Music Competition

“Please read through the rule, deadline, and some assign pieces for each group (ig. Violin, Harp, and Guitar)”

請詳閱比賽規章，截止日以及個樂器指定曲（小提琴、豎琴、吉他等等

2025 Competition Registration

Registration will open on 5/1/2025 to 6/5/2025

COMPETITION 2025

ABOUT: The United States International Music Competition (USIMC) is organized by the nonprofit United States International Music Foundation and Chinese Music Teachers’ Association of Northern California. Its purpose is to provide music enthusiasts with opportunities to showcase their talents, reward their dedication to learning, and encourage the appreciation of cross-cultural music.

ELIGIBILITY: Open to all musicians age 35 years old and under worldwide. Previous first-place winners of this competition are not allowed to participate in the same instrument or vocal category for the same age group but are able to compete in a higher age group. (Note: This restriction does not apply to Chamber Music, Vocal Ensemble, or Piano Duet when one or more performers are replaced.)

AGE GROUPS FOR ALL AWARDS DIVISIONS: Eligibility for each group will be determined by the contestant’s age as of June 1, 2025. Each instrument category has different age groups.

Category & Age groups	Piano	Violin	Viola	Cello	Vocal Solo
A	Age 9 or under	Age 9 or under	Age 14 or under	Age 11 or under	Age 9 or under
B	Age 11 or under	Age 11 or under	Age 18 or under	Age 14 or under	Age 12 or under
C	Age 14 or under	Age 14 or under	Age 35 or under	Age 18 or under	Age 14 or under
D	Age 18 or under	Age 18 or under		Age 35 or under	Age 18 or under
E	Age 35 or under	Age 35 or under			Age 35 or under

Category & Age groups	Marimba	Guitar	Piano Duet, Piano Concerto Chamber Music, Vocal Ensemble
A	Age 9 or under	Age 9 or under	*Age 12 or under
B	Age 11 or under	Age 12 or under	*Age 18 or under
C	Age 14 or under	Age 14 or under	*Age 35 or under
D	Age 18 or under	Age 18 or under	*The Ensemble group is determined by the oldest contestant in the group
E	Age 35 or under

Category & Age groups	Traditional Chinese Instruments
	Plucked Strings	Bowed Strings & Winds
A	Age 14 or under
B	Age 18 or under
C	Age 35 or under

COMPETITION DATES AND LOCATION:

Online Registration Submission May 1st – June 5th (11:59pm) 2025
Competition Location: Valley Christian Conservatory of the Arts, 100 Skyway Dr., San Jose, CA 95111
Competition Date: August 16th 2025 (Saturday) and August 17th (Sunday) 2025
Winner will be announced on www.usimc.org on August 18th (Monday)
Winner Concert/Award Ceremony: August 30th, Location: First United Methodist Church-Palo Alto

THREE AWARD DIVISIONS:

Important Notes: Final Round Rules (Any violation of the following rules will result in no scoring)

The entire piece must be performed in full, including cadenzas and NO repeats
Contestants CANNOT select excerpts or use simplified versions of the music. Judges have the right to select specific sections to listen to and determine the duration of the performance.
Memorization is required. (Except Classical Chamber music and Piano Duet)
Original scores or proof of purchase must be provided for all pieces (Chinese compositions are exempt from requiring original scores but must still bring sheet music).
All instrumental and vocal accompaniments (except self-provided CD or MIDI accompaniments) must be performed by piano accompanists designated by the competition.

I. YOUNG ARTIST AWARDS:

Winners from each instrumental group will be awarded the following: (Age groups refer to page 1)

1st Place: USD $300, Trophy, E-Certificate
2nd Place: USD $150, Trophy, E-Certificate
3rd Place: USD $100, Trophy, E-Certificate
Honorable Places: Medals, E-Certificate
All winners’ instructors will receive the Certificate of Recognition

Preliminary video round: due on 11:59 pm June 5, 2025 along with the application The finalist will be announced on July 1, 2025 on our USIMC website: www.usimc.org Video Upload Requirement as below:

The Video must be recorded in 2025
Editing is not allowed; the video must be a single take with clear visuals, including framing, portrait, and sound quality. Please refer to the attached sample photos of video angles.
Accompaniment is NOT allowed in the preliminary round.(Except Vocal and Piano Concerto)
The performance must be memorized; otherwise, it will not be scored.
The pieces for the preliminary and final rounds must be the same.
If there are two pieces, they must be uploaded separately.
Upload the video as “Unlisted” on YouTube.com or YouKu.com. Submissions not meeting these requirements will be considered invalid.
No self-introduction or announcement of the repertoire is needed at the beginning of the video.
Dress Code: Formal attire and shoes are required

Repertoire requirement:

Piano Solo/Viola/Cello/Marimba/Piano Duet:

Two pieces – with contrasting styles from different musical periods, and one of them must be from either the Baroque or the Classical period.

Violin:

Two pieces – One from the Romantic or the 20th century, and the other must from the following

Group A	Vivaldi Spring 1st movement Haydn Serenade from string quartet 17,op.3 no.5
Group B	G.P. Taleman 12 Fantasias for Solo violin No.9 Mozart Rondo in C major. K373
Group C	Bach Sonata No.1 Adagio Bach Partita No.3 Gavotte en Roudau Haydn concerto in C Major
Group D	Bach Sonata No.1 Fuga Bach Partita No.3 Prelude Beethoven Sonata No.8
Group E	Two contrasting pieces one must be from either the Baroque or the Classical period.

Vocal: including solo and ensemble categories. Vocal ensemble: Maximum 6 people in each group.

Two songs – Must be performed in their original language (Official Publication) and memorized. There are no restrictions on style, but the lyrics of songs must be appropriate.

Accompaniment is required, except for acapella. The form of accompaniment is flexible; participants may use a CD backing track, USB mp3 or accompanist provided by USIMC, or self-accompaniment.

Piano Concerto:

One piece – One Movement from one piece of music from any musical period.

Chamber Music: Maximum 6 people in each group:

One piece – One Movement from one piece of Western music from any musical period.

Traditional Chinese Instruments: Solo only

Two pieces – contrasting from different musical styles, one must be traditional Chinese music.
Bowed Strings/woodwinds: Erhu, Di, Xiao, Bawu, Suona, Sheng, Gunazi, Hulusi
Plucked Strings: Guzheng, Pipa, Liuqin, Zhongruan, XiaoRuan, Yangqin, Sanxian

Guitar: Two contrasting pieces from different music periods No assign pieces for group D and E

Group A	Op. 35 No. 4 by Fernando Sor
Group B	1.) Op. 35 No. 10 by Fernando Sor 2.) Op. 35 No. 12 by Fernando Sor
Group C	1.) Op. 35 No. 16 by Fernando Sor 2.) Op. 35 No. 19 by Fernando Sor

Young Artist Award Performance time limited for Final in person audition

Age Group	Piano	Violin	Viola	Cello	Vocal Solo
A	8 minutes	8 minutes	10 minutes	10 minutes	6 minutes
B	10 minutes	10 minutes	15 minutes	12 minutes	8 minutes
C	12 minutes	15 minutes	15 minutes	15 minutes	10 minutes
D	15 minutes	15 minutes		15 minutes	12 minutes
E	15 minutes	15 minutes			12 minutes
Age Group	Guitar	Marimba	Traditional Chinese Instruments		Piano Duet/Piano Concerto/Chamber Ensemble/Vocal Ensemble
A	10 minutes	6 minutes	10 minutes		12 minutes
B	12 minutes	8 minutes	12 minutes		12 minutes
C	12 minutes	10 minutes	12 minutes		12 minutes
D	15 minutes	12 minutes
E		15 minutes

II. CHINESE MUSIC AWARD: The final in-person audition has a 6-minute limit

The purpose of the Chinese Music Award is to promote Chinese composers’.
The Chinese Music Award is only for western instruments solo and vocal solo only.
One piece or one movement ONLY. Each piece is required to be performed in its entirety.
Contestants can choose to compete in this individual award only.
The application fee is charged separately for this award.

● J & V Foundation & CMTANC Commission Project Award

If the contestant selects the composition from the J & V Foundation & CMTANC Commission Project and wins First Place, the J & V Foundation will reward USD $150 scholarship in addition to the Chinese Music Award.
These compositions include past and current commission projects by Ming Hsiu Yen/ Ruo Hwang/Chiung Ying Chang/Sarana Chou/Hao-Yuan Chiu/and Ke Chia Chen/Yuan-Chen Li (2024 J&V music commission project).
To request the music, please visit our website: USIMC.ORG/J&V Commission.

● AWARDS:

1^st Place: USD $150, Trophy, E-Certificate
2^nd Place: Medals, E-Certificate
3^rd Place: Medals, E-Certificate
All winners’ instructors will receive the Certificate of Recognition

III.SPECIAL THEME AWARD: Western Instruments Solo – S. Bach & L. v. Beethoven
Vocal Solo – J.S. Bach & F. Schubert

The purpose of the Special Theme Award is to promote specific western composers.
The Special Theme Award is only for western instrument solo and vocal solo only.
One piece ONLY. For all instruments, the choice includes but is not limited to Prelude & Fugue (except
piano which needs to play both), short section(s) of a Suite or one movement of a Sonata. Each piece
is required to perform in its entirety. .

*Violin cannot select a concerto for this category.

Contestants can choose to compete in this individual award only.
The application fee is charged separately for this award.

● AWARDS:

1^st Place: USD $150, Trophy, E-Certificate
2^nd Place: Medals, E-Certificate
3^rd Place: Medals, E-Certificate
All winners’ instructors will receive the Certificate of Recognition.

APPLICATION PROCESS:

The registration submission opens on May 1, 2025 on www.usimc.org. The deadline is 11:59pm. June 5, 2025.
Late Registration during June 6 to June 10 will need to pay an extra processing fee of $45.
Submitting proof of age (photocopy of driver’s license, passport or birth certificate) online is required.

Young Artist Award (Instruments Solo, vocal solo, piano concerto)

$120.00 per contestant, per category (students of Active CMTANC members)
$150.00 per contestant, per category (students of Non-CMTANC members)

Special Theme Award or Chinese Music Award

$100.00 per contestant, per category (students of Active CMTANC members)
$130.00 per contestant, per category (students of Non-CMTANC members)

Young Artist Award (Piano Duet, Choir, Classical Chamber)

$70 per contestant (coached by Active CMTANC members)
$80 per contestant (coached by Non-CMTANC members)
All fees are non-refundable.
$45 will be charged if the application has missing documents or any errors (submitted before June 10).
All contestants pay an application fee ONLINE ONLY via the registration system.
If a contestant is entering more than one category, the total fee for all categories entered will be included in one transaction.
All video links must be provided in the Registration Form. Once it is submitted after the deadline, the music selections/titles cannot be changed.

Please visit www.usimc.org for more information. For questions, contact us by email: info@usimc.org or +1(408) 389-8939.

GENERAL RULES:

Past first prize winners in the same instrument or vocal category and age group are not allowed to participate again in the same category. (This restriction does not apply to chamber music, vocal ensembles, or piano duet if more than one performer is replaced.).
Contestants may register for multiple categories (e.g., both Young Artist Award and Chinese Composition Award)
Repertoire selections cannot be changed after the submission deadline.
Judges will determine the list of winners and finalists for each category. If no contestant meets the standard, the judges reserve the right to withhold the award.
All decisions made by the judges are final. Any attempts to discuss or direct contact with judges will result in disqualification of the participant and/or winner.
No comments will be provided by the judges.
All Winners will receive their trophies and prizes during the awards ceremony and winners’ concert. If unable to attend in person, the following options are available:
- By proxy: A handling fee of $10 per award.
- By mail: * Domestic (within the U.S.): $60 per award.
  * International: $80 per award.

The organizers, CMTANC-USIMC, reserve the right to record, use, and reproduce any video materials.
Each participant and their parent or guardian automatically agrees to waive any rights to legal action against CMTANC-USIMC and associated personnel.