Official Festival Rules

Application Requirements

1. The Georgia Young Composers Festival invites works from high school and collegiate composers meeting the following requirements:
• For the high school division, composers must be enrolled in any public or private high school in the State of Georgia or must be a legal resident of the State of Georgia participating in a home schooling program at the high-school level.
• For the collegiate division, composers must be enrolled in a college, university or other institution of higher education in the State of Georgia in the fall of 2008 who will not have attained 25 years of age by May 31, 2009.
• Any composer enrolled jointly in a high school and an institution of higher education may only participate in the high school division.
• All composers must be citizens of the United States of America. [Note: Revised December 12, 2008.  Composers no longer must be US citizens.  Non US citizens may have a percentage of any prizes withheld according to IRS rules.]
2. All composers must complete the on-line registration and return an application packet to the address specified in the application packet to be received no later than December 31, 2008.
3. On-line registration is available at www.dekalbchoralguild.org/gycf. Any composer who is not able to access the on-line registration may contact the DeKalb Choral Guild at 678-318-1362 to request a paper application.
4. The application packet will consist of:
• Printed and signed application form from the on-line registration process.
• Proof of enrollment (a letter from the principal or registrar, for example)
• Proof of citizenship (copy of birth certificate or other state issued id, for example)
• Two copies of a completed composition (Specifications appear below)
• The Composition Information form
• Proof of permission for the use of a copyrighted text, if applicable
• The Sponsor Information Form
5. Compositions entered in the GYCF shall meet the following specifications:
   • Each composer may submit only one original work for judging in the festival. The work must be solely composed by the composer. The work must not have been published. The work must not have been recorded, except for purely archival purposes.
   • The length of the work shall be between four and six minutes.
   • The work shall be for SATB choir either a capella or with piano accompaniment. The work may also include divided sections, such as Soprano 1 and 2, Alto 1 and 2, etc., or divided choir in places, if desired.
   • The work shall not consist solely of an arrangement or variation of an existing piece of music.
   • For the text of the work, the composer may choose either an original text of the composer's creation, a text in the public domain or a copyrighted text. For any copyrighted text, the composer must provide written permission of use from the copyright holder with the application packet.
   • The text may reflect a secular or sacred theme and may come from a language other than English, if desired. If the language is not English, the composer must provide a translation of the text. The Guild is familiar with the diction of several languages, including Latin, French, German, Spanish, and Italian. If the text involves any other language, the composer must also provide a phonetic pronunciation guide the Guild can use during rehearsals. The Guild prefers the use of the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) for preparing the pronunciation guide.
   • The score copies shall be formatted to fit on standard 8.5 inch by 11 inch paper in portrait orientation. The score pages shall be single-sided and may be bound with a paper clip, but not with staples. The title of the work and page numbers must appear in the footer of every page for both copies of the score.
   • The festival judges will prefer computer-generated scores. Handwritten scores are acceptable provided they are clearly legible. If submitting a handwritten score, please submit copies of the originals rather than the original handwritten pages. Handwritten scores that are not legible will be rejected.
   • Each composer will provide two copies of the work submitted. The first copy must be labeled "For GYCF Archives" and must include the authorship of the work and the text and the title of the work. The composer will also sign this copy of the score on the first page in a location that does not intrude upon the music on the page. The second copy must be labeled "For GYCF Judges". The composer will only include the title of the work at the top of the first page and include no other identifying information.
   • The DeKalb Choral Guild and the Georgia Young Composers Festival encourages all composers to secure copyrights to their works. Copyright information may be included on the copy "For GYCF Archives." Do not include copyright information on the copy "For GYCF Judges."
   • Composers may not make changes to the score once it has been submitted for judging. Once the Selection Committee has named the finalists, the composer may be permitted to make small editorial changes in consultation with and at the discretion of the Director of the DeKalb Choral Guild.
   • The DeKalb Choral Guild is not responsible for lost or damaged application packets or the materials contained therein.
6. All composers will receive a confirmation of the receipt of the application packet via electronic mail if an electronic mail address is provided. Otherwise, composers will receive a confirmation via postal mail.
7. Composers not selected as finalists will receive their application materials via return mail.
8. All composers will designate a sponsor on the Sponsor Information Form. The Sponsor is a person who has provided inspiration, advice encouragement or mentoring to the composer in the past and while creating the submitted work. The Sponsor should be available to accompany the composer to the Festival concert if the composer is selected as a Finalist.

The Selection of Finalists

1. A Selection Committee will meet to review all the compositions submitted for the festival to choose up to four finalists for the high school division and up to four finalists for the collegiate division. The Selection Committee will consist of professionals drawn from the choral music community.
2. The Selection Committee will not know information about the identity of the composers during the selection process, including details such as name, gender, race, or hometown.
3. No member of the Selection Committee may be named as a sponsor by an composer. A Selection Committee member shall recuse himself or herself from the consideration of any work submitted by a composer from that member's school or family.
4. The Selection Committee will judge the compositions in several areas, including but not limited to: musicality, form, integration with text, score legibility, "singability," and, creativity.
5. All composers will be notified via electronic or postal mail of their status by March 15, 2009. All composers will receive comments from the Selection Committee about their works.
6. The decisions of the Selection Committee are final.

Requirements for Finalists

1. Each finalist and sponsor must commit to being present at the Georgia Young Composers Festival concert on May 16, 2009.
2. Each finalist must provide his or her own transportation to Atlanta for the concert.
3. Each finalist must provide the following documentation:
• A signed liability waiver and information release form that the DeKalb Choral Guild will send to the finalist.
• A brief biography, no more than one page, no smaller than 12 point type.
• A digital photograph of the composer in JPEG format.
4. In consideration for the rewards described below, each finalist agrees to grant the following rights or permissions to the DeKalb Choral Guild or its agents:
• Exclusive performance rights of the submitted work through May 31, 2009 and non-exclusive performance rights from June 1, 2009, through June 30, 2012.
• Permission to photocopy the musical scores for the use of judges, performers and workshop attendees at the Georgia Young Composers Festival.
• Permission to make audio and video recordings of the work during its performance at the Georgia Young Composers Festival.
• Mechanical duplication and synchronization rights (i.e. the right to reproduce and sell audio and video recordings) for up to 2000 copies of the work as performed at the Georgia Young Composers Festival.
• Broadcast rights for radio and television performances of the work as performed at the Georgia Young Composers Festival.
• Permission to include the finalist's and sponsor's photographs and names in any press releases or other media used to promote the Georgia Young Composers Festival.
5. The rewards granted to each finalist shall include:
• Each finalist is invited to the Georgia Young Composers Festival weekend in Atlanta. The weekend will include a welcome reception, a dress rehearsal on May 15, 2009, workshops with master composers on May 16 and a concert on the evening of May 16.
• Each finalist's work will be performed at the Georgia Young Composers Festival concert in front of a live audience. It is also possible that the concert will be recorded for broadcast on radio and television.
• Each finalist will be personally recognized during the concert.
• Each finalist will receive complimentary tickets to the concert for the finalist's immediate family (parents or guardians and siblings), the finalist's sponsor and the sponsor's spouse.
• Each finalist will receive up to two hotel nights for one room at the hotel chosen for the festival. (Note: Any additional rooms or nights will be the responsibility of the finalist.)
• Each finalist will be recognized in press releases sent to a variety of media outlets throughout the State of Georgia and to organizations such as Chorus America and the American Choral Directors Association.
• Each finalist will receive an audio recording of the concert and a video recording if available.

The Selection of the Grand Prize Winners

1. A Judges Committee will judge each work as it is performed during the GYCF concert to determine one Grand Prize Winner for each division. The Judges Committee will consist of professionals drawn from the choral music community.
2. No member of the Judges Committee shall have been named as a sponsor by a composer.
3. Before the concert, the Judges Committee shall decide the list of criteria upon which they will judge the works performed.
4. The decisions of the Judges Committee are final.
5. The Grand Prize winner of each division will receive a cash award of $1,000.
6. The DeKalb Choral Guild assumes no tax liability that competition winners may incur through receiving prize money. Individuals are responsible for investigating applicable tax laws and reporting prize winnings to requisite government agencies. Winners will be required to provide the DeKalb Choral Guild with appropriate tax information for reporting purposes before receiving any prize.