TERMS AND CONDITIONS 2024
1. THE HOST
Fundacja Morze Kultury
2. CO-HOSTS
❖ Parish God’s Mercy in Szczecin
❖ Parish of pw. st. Nicholas the Bishop in Szczecin
❖ Cathedral of St. James in Szczecin
❖ Church of Sts. Wojciech in Szczecin
❖ Parish of pw. st. James the Apostle in Szczecin
❖ Cathedral Basilica
❖ National Museum in Szczecin
❖ Primary School No. 35 in Szczecin
3. HONORARY PATRONAGE
❖ Mayor of the City of Szczecin – Piotr Krzystek
❖ Archbishop of the Szczecin-Kamień Diocese Andrzej Dzięga
4. MEDIA PATRONAGE
TVP3 Szczecin
5. MANAGEMENT
Artistic director of the festival – prof. dr hab. Iwona Wiśniewska-Salamon.
6. FESTIVAL OBJECTIVES
❖ promoting and disseminating sacred choral music;
❖ consolidating choir community;
❖ sharing musical experiences;
❖ raising the level of musical culture;
❖ promoting the City of Szczecin;
❖ promoting the West Pomeranian Voivodeship.
7. THE FORM
The festival will be conducted in the form of a competition and will be held in Szczecin on March 22nd – April 24th 2024.
8. PARTICIPANTS:
Amateur choirs (does not apply to conductors) from Poland and abroad.
9. VENUES
❖ competition auditions will be held in:
Church of Divine Mercy at ul. Przyjaciół Żołnierza 45 in Szczecin
❖ announcement of the results and the Final Concert will take place in:
Cathedral Basilica of St. Jakub at ul. Wyszyńskiego 19 in Szczecin
❖ festival and accompanying concerts will be held, among– others, in:
churches and museums of Szczecin and cities of the West Pomeranian Voivodeship.
10. CATEGORIES
a) Mixed Choirs (more than 24 people)
b) Chamber Choirs (up to 24 people)
c) Single-sex Choirs (male, female)
d) Children and Youth Choirs
e) Senior Choirs
*CHOIRS ARE ALLOWED TO TAKE PART IN NO MORE THAN 3 CATEGORIES.
11. REPERTOIRE:
The performance should include 3 to 4 pieces.(duration time – maximum 15 minutes, including the entrance and the exit from the stage).
Choirs and ensembles (in all categories) are to prepare an A’ CAPPELLA program, consisting of 3-4 SACRED PIECES – It is recommended (not obligatory) that this includes:
– one passion-based piece
– one sacred-themed piece of a Polish composer (not necessarily in Polish)
– it is allowed to perform one piece with accompaniment (except Senior category, that allows max. 2)*
*PERFORMANCES WITH THE BACKUP ARE NOT ALLOWED
12. JURY
a) choirs’ performances will be assessed by an international jury of experienced choirmasters
b) voice emission (intonation, diction, timbre consistency) as well as interpretation and artistic expression will be assessed in detail
c) decisions of the jury are final and indisputable
13. AWARDS
1st place – “The Golden Band” – 90 to 99 points, honored with statues, diplomas and prizes
2nd place – “The Silver Band” – 80 to 89 points, honored with statues, diplomas and prizes
3rd place – “The Bronze Band” – 70 to 79 points, honored with statues, diplomas and prizes
Awards will be granted for each category.
❖ There will be a GRAND PRIX award for the best ensemble selected from all categories.
❖ The GRAND PRIX is a financial prize, and its amount depends on the funds raised by the organizer.
Special prizes will also be granted:
– The best sacred piece performance
– The best passion-themed performance
– The best performed piece of a Polish composer
– The best foreign choir
– The best conductor of the festival
Prizes will be issued in accordance with the tax law in force in Poland, which means that the cash prize will be issued to the winner after prior submission to the Organizer of all necessary data required to settle the issue of flat-rate income tax, in accordance with art. 30 sec. 1 point 2 of the Personal Income Tax Act, in the amount of 10% of the value of the prize.
* ALL PARTICIPANTS ARE OBLIGED TO PARTICIPATE IN THE FINAL CONCERT.
14. IMPORTANT INFORMATION:
a) The participation in the Festival is confirmed by filling out the on-line application form on the festival website. Together with the application, the following should be sent to fundacja@morzekultury.pl :
1. copy of the notes for the chosen repertoire
2. the photo of the choir in an electronic form
3. an information about the ensemble
4. the selected competition categories (max. 3)
5. a copy of the fee payment confirmation – payments for the statutory purposes of the foundation
b) The fee for the statutory purposes is PLN 500 (or the equivalent of EUR 110 for choirs from abroad) for one competition category OR PLN 450 for chamber ensembles, children/youth and senior ensembles up to 24 people)
c) ensembles taking part in several categories are required to pay the fee for each and every category separately, that is PLN 500 (or PLN 450 for chamber ensembles, children/youth and senior ensembles up to 24 people) x the number of categories (max. 3 categories, so for instance 3 x PLN 500= PLN 1500)
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FUNDACJA MORZE KULTURY – bank account details |
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Recipient’s name: Fundacja Morze Kultury Bank’s name: mBank Account number/IBAN: PL 28 1140 2004 0000 3002 7693 0106 Transfer title: fee for statutory purposes of the foundation + name of the choir |
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e) the due date for the applications is 01/03/2024.
f) There are no refunds for the withdrawal from the competition.
g) All the costs, such as transport, accommodation and meals are covered individually by the participant choirs. If you need any help with booking the hotel, airline tickets, transfers or catering, please feel free to ask us. We will be more than happy to help.
15. ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
Fundacja Morze Kultury reserves the right to make changes to the Festival program- the time of a given performance or the host in particula, as well as the right to cancelling the Festival. In such case, the fee will be fully or partially refunded.
16. RECORDINGS/ONLINE AUDITIONS
In specific cases, due to circumstances independent of the host, online auditions or recordings by the festival participant via electronic means of communication may be taken into consideration.
Thus, in case of online auditions, Fundacja Morze Kultury does not take the responsibility for the following:
● transmission problems caused by actions or omissions of third parties,
● non-operation or malfunction of third-party software used by the festival participant, including the operation of computer viruses,
● incorrect configuration of the equipment used by the participant of the Festival in order to participate,
● defects of the Festival participant’s computer equipment,
● lack or interruption of Internet access
● incorrect use of the application by the participant of the Festival,
● other circumstances preventing or hindering participation in the Festival, not caused by the actions or omissions of the Organizer.
Technical requirements for the video recordings necessary to participate in the Festival:
Video files can be recorded using both amateur and professional image and sound recording devices with the minimum technical requirements:
● Minimum video resolution: 854×480 pixels, optimal resolution: 1280×720 pixels
● Aspect ratio: 16:9, landscape orientation
● File format: AVI, MOV, MP4, WMV
● Video files can be sent electronically to the address fundacja@morzekultury.pl, as well as traditionally – by sending a medium (CD, DVD or pendrive) to the following address: FUNDACJA MORZE KULTURY, ul. Syrokomli 7, 71-145 Szczecin, POLAND
● The maximum size of a video file cannot exceed 1GB.
● The video file must be integrated with the audio. It is not allowed to upload a video file and an audio file separately.
● Any corrections to the recording, such as editing, image or sound editing, substitution of the soundtrack, any digital interference in the recording are unacceptable. Such files will be automatically disqualified.
● Video recordings should be made carefully, the sound should be clearly audible without crackling, noise, unnecessary elements such as side conversations, overlapping background music, without errors and distortions caused by careless recording.
● Video recordings that do not meet the above requirements will be disqualified.