Rules(EN)

2018 USIMC EN 032018.pdf

2018 USIMC 中文章程 032018.pdf

ABOUT: The United States International Music Competition is hosted by the Chinese Music Teachers’ Association of Northern California, a non-profit organization. This competition provides young musicians with an opportunity to exhibit their talent and reward their hard work, as well as to encourage them to appreciate music cross-culturally.

ELIGIBILITY: Students of all nationalities through age 30. Past First Place winners may not compete in the same age group. They may compete in another age group when they are age appropriate.

INSTRUMENT CATEGORIES: Piano, Violin, Viola, Cello, Classical Chamber Ensembles, Vocal (solo and ensembles) and Traditional Chinese Instruments (solo and ensembles) categories are held annually. Classical Guitar and Harp are also included in the 2018 competition categories.

AGE GROUPS: Eligibility for each group will be determined by the contestant’s age as of June 1, 2018 (application deadline). Each instrument category has different age groups.

Final competition (Live Round)

Date: Saturday, August 18-19, 2018
Location: Braun Music Center at Stanford University, 541 Lasuen Mall, Stanford, CA 94305
Competition winners will be announced when the result is finalized

The Winners’ Recitals and Award Ceremonies

Date: Saturday, August 26, 2018

AWARDS:
I. YOUNG ARTIST AWARDS:

Preliminary video round: due on June 1, 2018.
Winners from each instrumental group will be awarded the following:

1st Place: USD $300, Trophy, Certificate, and performance at the Winners Recital
2nd Place: USD $150, Trophy, and Certificate
3rd Place: USD $100, Trophy, and Certificate
Honorable Places: Trophy and Certificate
All finalists will receive the Certificate of Recognition
All winners’ instructors will receive the Certificate of Recognition

II. CHINESE MUSIC AWARD:

The purpose of the Chinese Music Award is to promote Chinese Music and culture.
The Chinese Music Award is only for solo instruments, not open to any ensembles.
Contestants can exclusively compete in this individual category, which is organized into the same instrument or vocal age groups.
Please note that the Chinese music piece does not require preliminary video submission. The competition for the Chinese Music Award will take place on the same days as the final round.
No limit to music length. However, the live performance time is limited to 6 minutes.
Application fee is charged separately for this category.
Contestants in the Traditional Chinese Instruments and Classical Chamber Music categories are not eligible to participate in the Chinese Music Award.
AWARDS:

1st Place: USD $150, Trophy, Certificate, and performance at the Winners Recital
2nd place: Trophy and Certificate
3rd Place: Trophy and Certificate
All participants will receive a certificate of participation.
All winners’ instructors will receive the Certificate of Recognition

J & V Foundation & CMTANC Commissioning Project Award (link)

*If the contestant selects the composition from the J & V Foundation & CMTANC Commissioning Project and wins First Place,
the J & V Foundation will reward USD $150 scholarship in addition to the Chinese Music Award.
*These compositions includes: FANTASY AMOUR for piano, FLOATING CLOUDS for violin, AMIS’ FEAST for violin, FLOATING
CLOUDS for cello, and DANCE TO THE MOON for cello and music for violin, cello, and marimba are composed by Hao-Yuan
Chiu. (link to view and download music)
*Please email for questions: commissionproject@cmtanc.org.

III. SPECIAL THEME AWARD-Johann Sebastian Bach:

The purpose of the Special Theme Award is to promote specific western composers. The theme may vary yearly.
The Special Theme Award is only for solo instruments, not open to instrumental ensembles.
Contestants can exclusively compete in this individual category, which is organized into the same instrument or vocal age groups.
Please note that the Special Theme Award does not require preliminary video submission. The competition for the Special Theme Award will take place on the same days as the final round.
No limit to music length. However, the live performance time is limited to 6 minutes.
Application fee is charged separately for this category.
AWARDS:

COMPETITION PROCEDURE:

Preliminary Video Round (Youth Artist Awards only): Contestants will be evaluated in the preliminary round based on two performance video clips. The two submitted clips must be selected from the listed repertoire below. Each piece is required to be performed in its entirety in the video submission—with cadenza if applicable. No piece may be entered more than once in the competition.
Uploaded preliminary videos: Video clips must be recorded from one, single camera angle and must have good lighting/visibility of the performer. Editing is not permitted. The two separate video clips shall be uploaded on YouTube.com or YouKu.com.
Deadline: By June 1, 2018.
Finalists will be posted on www.usimc.org by July, 1, 2018.
Final Round instructions for finalists will be notified by email.

APPLICATION PROCESS:
Online registration for USIMC begins on April 1, 2018 on www.usimc.org. The registration deadline is June 1, 2018.

In addition to contestant’s personal information and music selections, the proof of age document (driver’s license, passport or birth certificate) is required to be submitted online.
All contestants pay application fee ONLINE ONLY via the registration system. All fees are non-refundable. Application Fee: (USD)

Young Artist Award categories, Special Theme Award or Chinese Music Award:
*$80.00 per contestant, per category (students of Active CMTANC members)
*$110.00 per contestant, per category (students of Non-CMTANC members)
*$130.00 per contestant, per international contestant, per category
Traditional Chinese Instrument Ensemble, Classical Chamber Ensemble Piano Duet, or Vocal Ensemble:
*$50 per contestant (coached by Active CMTANC members)
*$60 per contestant (coached by Non-CMTANC members)
*$70 per international contestant

If contestant is entering more than one category, the total fees for all categories entered may be included in one transaction.
$30 will be charged if application has missing information or documents.
The two video links for the Youth Artist Award Category must be provided in the Registration Form. Once the Application deadline is met, 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) 681-9928

ONLINE REGISTRATION

REPERTOIRE REQUIREMENT:
PIANO/VIOLIN/VIOLA/CELLO:

Contestants must select two original and contrasting pieces from different music periods. One of the two pieces must be from either the Baroque or the Classical period.
No simplified music is allowed.
No accompaniment for string instruments in the Preliminary Round is allowed.
Accompaniment is optional for flute and clarinet in the Preliminary Round.
Time limit of Free choice:

Classical Chamber Music:

Requirement: One movement of chamber music originally composed chamber music. No simplified or (re)arranged music is allowed.
The chosen music length shall not exceed 12 minutes.
Maximum 6 people in each group.
Preliminary video required.

Piano Duet (four hands):

Contestants must select two original and contrasting pieces from different music periods. One of the two pieces must be from either the Baroque or the Classical period.
No simplified music is allowed. The chosen music must be published and copyrighted.
Preliminary Video Round requested.
Time limit of the two chosen music:

VOCAL: including solo and ensemble categories.
Vocal ensemble: Maximum 6 people in each group.
1. Contestants must enter two selections.

There are no restrictions on language or style. The content should be appropriate and family friendly.
Total time for both selections should not exceed 6 minutes; both should be performed from memory.
The two selections for the final round must be the same as the two selections entered in the Preliminary Round.
Accompaniment is optional in the Preliminary Round.

2. Final round:

Accompaniment is mandatory unless the song is acapella.
No restrictions on the type of accompaniment, contestants may bring CD accompaniment.
If piano accompaniment, contestant must choose either an accompanist from USIMC’s approved list or self-accompaniment.

Participating instructors cannot be accompanists for any contestants.

Classical Guitar:

Harp:

Traditional Chinese instruments: including solo and ensemble categories.
Zither (古箏 including non-professional and Professional Categories)
Guqin (古琴)
Woodwinds of Chinese Music Instrument: : Dizi (笛子), Dongxiao (洞簫), Bawu (巴烏), Suona (嗩吶),
Sheng (笙), Guanzi (管子), Hulusi (葫蘆絲)
Bowed Strings of Chinese Music Instrument: Erhu (二胡)
Plucked String Chinese Music Instruments: Pipa (琵琶), Liuqin (柳琴), Zhongruan (中阮),
Xiaoruan (小阮),Sanxian (三弦), Yangqin (扬琴)

Contestant’s two contesting pieces must be from different musical periods with one piece required to be from traditional Chinese music.
Time limit of choices:

Traditional Chinese Instrument Ensemble

Maximum 7 people in each group; free combination of instruments.
One free choice of music, not to exceed 8 minutes.

ONLINE REGISTRATION

RULES:

At the competition’s discretion, a Category/Group with less than 3 registered contestants may be cancelled or combined with other higher Categories/Groups.
Past First Place and Best Award winners cannot register again for the same group of that instrumental category.
No accompaniment is permitted for all instruments except vocals in the Preliminary Round (in the two video clips uploaded to YouTube.com or YouKu.com).
Contestants are required to bring non-photocopied music (if purchased from online databases, please print and attach your online or emailed purchase receipt) to the final competition, with the exception of the Chinese pieces.
Original compositions are required in all of the categories. Free choice repertoire of Harp categories can be officially published transcriptions.
Contestants may register for multiple instrumental categories.
No changes in repertoire are allowed after the Application deadline.
In the Final Round, all repertoires must be performed from memory and complete. Repeats are not necessary.
Due to the time limitation, Judges reserve the right to stop or interrupt the contestant during the final audition. This will not affect the result.
Teachers may not conduct or accompany their own students during the competition.
The winners will be chosen from the finalists in each group. However, if none of the finalists meet the standard, judges reserve the right to declare no winners.
All judges’ decisions are final. Contestants – Parents/guardians cannot appeal the final decision of the Judges. If any contact with the judges is discovered, the contestants or winners will be disqualified.
No comments will be provided.
In the event of a tie, each winner will receive a trophy and share the scholarship.
Judges will decide the Winners Recital Program.
The awards may be claimed in the Winners’ Recitals. An additional mailing and handling charge ($30 domestic in the US; $50 international) will apply to all unclaimed awards after the Winners’ Recitals.
Each contestant hereby gives USIMC-CMTANC and CMTANC permission to record, use, duplicate, distribute, and/or modify creatively, derivative works for public display of the contestant’s performance in the audition and competition.
Subject to the limitations by applicable laws and regulations, each contestant waives any and all claims or actions against USIMC-CMTANC, CMTANC and its judges, staffs, officers, directors and volunteers that have arisen and/or may arise from Competitor’s participation in the audition and competition.

ONLINE REGISTRATION