Schubert Club : YMF

ALL EVENTS

Revised September 9, 2009

Replaces all previous versions; In effect until replaced by a later version

For a PDF version of this document, including the syllabus, please click here
GENERAL REGULATIONS FOR VOICE
STATEMENT OF PURPOSE

The Schubert Club Young Musicians' Festival sponsors non-competitive auditions for school-age students. These auditions provide students an opportunity to receive an evaluation of their performance and musicianship skills from highly skilled adjudicators.

TEACHER/SPONSOR ELIGIBILITY

Teachers do not need to be members of the Schubert Club to enter students. Non- member teachers pay an additional fee for entering students.
Each student must be sponsored by his or her own private teacher. Music schools, choral directors and instrumental directors may not be sponsors. The sponsoring teacher must:
- have paid their membership fee to the Schubert Club of Fairfield County, Inc., in full prior to the festival application deadline
- submit a sponsoring teacher fee of $45.00 in addition to the student application fee on the registration form.
All teachers who enter students must assist for at least 2 hours with audition preparations and/or at the Festival. They may serve as room monitor, day chair, assistant day chair, or may help before or after the festival. Teachers who enter more than 5 students may be asked to work for more hours. If teachers are unable to assist, they should provide a reliable substitute who has been approved by the audition chair prior to the audition date. A fine will be imposed on teachers who do not assist with festival activities. Note: If a teacher is accompanying his/her own students, he or she will not be permitted to work as room monitor during that class and will be assigned as a monitor in another class.

STUDENT ELIGIBILITY

Entrants must be under 19 years of age as of March 1, 2010.
Entrants may participate up to and including the senior year of high school.
Entrants must be taking private lessons from the vocal teacher or coach who enters them.

FEES

Solo/Concerto Application - $12
Duo/Duet/Ensemble Application - $24
Special Request family with one student - $15
Special Request families with more than one participant - $25
Sponsoring teachers (non-Schubert Club members) submit an additional $45.00 sponsor fee with student applications.
Teachers should submit one check, payable to The Schubert Club, for the total amount due, along with application forms for all of their students.
Fees are not refundable and there will be no 'make-ups' for missed auditions.

APPLICATIONS

Each year, entrants may enter one class in any or all of the three vocal categories: Art Song, Musical Theater and Vocal Ensemble.
One application must be completed for each entrant, event or ensemble.
Deadline for students entering more than one festival (e.g. piano and voice): Janurary 11, 2009
Deadline for special request applications: January 19, 2010.
Deadline for all other applications is January 29, 2010.
The Young Musicians' Festival reserves the right to disqualify entrants for infractions of these rules.

SCORES and PHOTOCOPYING

Published scores of both pieces (not photocopies) must be provided for the judges. Written permission must be sought from the publisher for music that is out of print, not just unavailable or temporarily out of stock.
Students who fail to provide the judge with a published score may perform for critique, but will receive no points toward a Gold Cup.
Please number the measures so that the adjudicators can use them as reference.
Required pieces for Art Song category MUST be chosen from the current 2010 YMF Syllabus published by the Festival Committee and available from the Festival Registrar. Additional syllabi are available on the festival website (http://www.ymfestival.org) for all other instruments.

ACCOMPANIMENT

Teachers are encouraged to use a live accompanist whenever possible. Students (or their teachers) are responsible for securing an accompanist. A teacher may accompany his or her own students. A list of accompanists is available upon request; email the voice registrar for a copy of the list.
CDs, Cassette Tapes, or iPods may be used as accompaniment, but students/teachers are required to provide their own CD player, Cassette player or iPod Speakers. The Voice Festival will not provide CD or Cassette players. If you have difficulty providing your own electronic devices, please contact the voice chairperson for assistance.

ELECTRONIC DEVICES (Photos, Videos, Phones)

No flash photography or cell phone pictures should be taken during a performance. Photographs may be taken before or after the class.
When entering the room, turn off all cell phones and devices that make noise.
Videotaping is allowed during festival performances. Parents will be guided by the Room Monitor to set up equipment before the class begins; please silence electronic beeps and operate cameras from the back of the room to avoid disrupting the class.
Photographs & videos may be taken only of your own children.

AUDITIONS PROCESS ("Classes")

Students are grouped into a "class" of students of approximately the same age.
Each class lasts one hour or less.
All classes are open to an audience, depending on availability of suitable rooms at the audition location.
Each student will receive a form with the adjudicators' written comments, a certificate of participation, and points toward Gold Cup awards.

AWARDS and CERTIFICATES

RATINGS: Each student will receive one rating from each of the presiding adjudicators: Gold (5 points), Blue (4 points), Red (3 points), Green (2 points) or Yellow (1 point). Students are awarded the higher of the two scores or an average of the two scores as their official score. (e.g. A student who received a 5 and a 4 is awarded a "5". A student who receives a 5 and a 3 receives a "4." A student who receives two 4's is awarded a "4".)
CERTIFICATES: All students will receive a "Certificate of Participation" which lists the earned rating. Colored certificates will no longer be used. The number of consecutive Gold ratings earned will be noted on the Gold certificates. (e.g. "Jane Doe received a Gold Rating in Art Song for the Second Consecutive Year.")
GOLD CUPS: Points are accumulated for each instrument or event. (Art Song, Musical Theater and Vocal Ensemble are all separate events, so students will accrue points separately for each event.) When 15 points have been earned in an event, the first Gold Cup will be awarded. Remaining points will be applied toward the next Gold Cup in that event. All points counted toward a Gold Cup must be earned in the same event, with one exception: high school seniors may combine points across events on a given instrument (e.g. Art Song and Musical Theater and Vocal Ensemble may be combined toward a final Gold Cup in the Senior Year). Voice events may also be combined with the composition event.
Audition scores will be posted online 2-4 weeks after festival. Comment sheets and certificates should arrive within 4 weeks and are sent directly to the teacher.

STUDENT INFO

On auditions day, students should bring - in writing - their audition time and room number and the campus map. This is provided to teachers when the schedules are sent out.
Students should also bring a published score for each piece with measures numbered. (See SCORES and PHOTOCOPYING, above.)
Students should dress appropriately for the auditions.

FURTHER INFORMATION

Voice Chairperson:
Kathleen Theisen
P.O. Box 1163
Greenwich, CT 06836
(203) 561-6623
kathleen@kathleentheisen.com

Festival Registrar:
Cheryl Lacy
743 Jennings Road
Fairfield, CT 06824
(203) 330-9389
talacy@aol.com