XXII MOSCOW INTERNATIONAL COMPETITION
FOR THE BEST PERFORMANCE OF SACRED MUSIC
«CHRISTMAS CAROL»

VIRTUAL FORM

 

Dates:
10 February 2021 - 20 February 2021

1.      REGULATIONS

The annual competition for the best performance of sacred music «Christmas Carol» was established by the Department of Education and Science of the city of Moscow in 2000 for the spiritual and moral education of children and youth, their introduction to the rich tradition of Russian sacred music.  «Christmas Carol» is not only a competition, but also gala concerts, performances of choirs in the best concert halls of Moscow, creative meetings, a scientific and practical conference on support of children's and youth choral creativity, the development of the singing voice of young singers, performance by children and youth of sacred music. Sacred music, born in the bosom of the Orthodox tradition, as well as belonging to some other religious trends, has a huge potential for moral education and personal development.  The words of Basil the Great, spoken many centuries ago, have a deep symbolic meaning: «Psalm singing brings us one of the greatest blessings - love, inventing collective singing instead of a knot to unity, and bringing people into a single consonant face» Children, youth and youth choral groups, as well as vocal-choral and vocal ensembles and soloists who have sacred music (folk, liturgical, concert) in their repertoire, take part in the «Christmas Carol» competition.

The main content of the competition is the music of the Orthodox tradition.

2. Goals and objectives of the competition

* Assistance in the revival of the traditions of Orthodox spiritual culture;

* Propaganda of Russian art, traditions, spiritual values;

* Awakening in students a sense of patriotism and love for their homeland, its culture and art;

* Upbringing in children a careful attitude and respect for the national Russian culture, folk traditions, customs, rituals;

* Familiarizing children with the best examples of Russian and foreign musical heritage;

* Support of acting children's and youth creative collectives, showing their achievements;

* Study and generalization of advanced experience in the field of choral and vocal performance, creation of conditions for fruitful creative communication of specialists in the field of musical education of children and youth;

* Provision of methodological and practical assistance to specialists working with children and young people, teachers, whose vocal groups and student soloists have sacred music in their repertoire;

* Attracting students of secondary schools and institutions of additional education to singing and, first of all, choral creativity as the most accessible and widespread type of children's creativity;

* Providing each participant (regardless of his age category, performing "experience" and level of skill) maximum opportunities for performing self-realization;

* Preservation and development of traditions of choral pedagogy;

* Awakening the interest of young people in spiritual choral and vocal music;

* Identification of new trends in teaching methods and mastering the spiritual repertoire;

* Improving the performing skills of participants in children's and youth choirs and individual singers.

3. Organizing committee of the competition

The founder of the competition is the Moscow Department of Education and Science.  The direct organizer of the competition is the Moscow City State Budgetary Educational Institution «Center for Creative Development and Musical and Aesthetic Education of Children and Youth «Radost», the leading institution of the Russian capital in the field of musical and aesthetic education of youth, operator of the Department of Education and Science of the city of Moscow for organizing mass creative events,  operator of the Department of Education and Science of the city of Moscow for the implementation of the city complex target program of education of youth «Moscow Children Sing».

4. Competition nominations

ACADEMIC SINGING:

* performance of Orthodox sacred music,

* Performance of Catholic Sacred Music.

FOLK SINGING:

performance of Orthodox sacred music.

4.1.  ACADEMIC SINGING:

* performance of Orthodox sacred music,

* Performance of Catholic Sacred Music.

Nomination participants:

* choir (from 20 participants),

* vocal and choral ensemble (12-19 participants),

* vocal ensemble (2-11 participants),

* soloists.

 

Competitive auditions are held separately in the following categories:

* class-choir,

* school choir,

* the staff of the organization of additional education,

* collective of a music school,

* choir of boys,

* choir of boys and youths,

* collective at Sunday school,

* mixed amateur choir,

* female amateur choir,

* male amateur choir,

* professional choir,

* inclusive choir,

* family ensemble,

* choral theatricalization,

* solo singing.

Age categories:

Category I - junior (6-9 years old),

II category - average (10-13 years old),

III category - senior (14-18 years old),

IV category - youth (19-22 years old),

V category - youth (from 23 years old).

In the composition of choirs and vocal-choral ensembles of each age category, up to 15% of participants of a different age are allowed.

Competitive auditions for different age categories are held separately.

 

4.2.  FOLK SINGING:

performance of Orthodox sacred music.

Participants and categories of nomination:

 
folklore ensembles (from 9 participants),

small ensembles of folk songs (3–8 participants),

family folklore ensembles,

soloists.

Age categories:

Category I - junior (6-9 years old),

II category - average (10-13 years old),

III category - senior (14-18 years old),

IV category - youth (19-22 years old),

V category - youth (from 23 years old).

In the composition of choirs and vocal-choral ensembles of each age category, up to 15% of participants of a different age are allowed.
Competitive auditions for different age categories are held separately.

5. Requirements for the competition program

To participate in the competition, each participating collective, regardless of the nomination, provides a video in the format of a concert performance or in the format of a «virtual choir», created not earlier than September 1, 2020.

 

ACADEMIC SINGING PERFORMANCE OF ORTHODOX SACRED MUSIC

 
• Choirs and vocal-choral ensembles

Each ensemble performs one or two pieces, which may include compositions from the Orthodox singing tradition, appropriate for performance during the celebration of the Nativity of Christ, and compositions on a spiritual theme dedicated to the holiday of Christmas.  The number of pieces is regulated by the total playing time of the competition program.

For collectives participating in the I and II age categories, it is allowed to include in the competition program works from the repertoire of the

Great Consolidated Choir of Moscow schoolchildren:

1. «Angel», music by V. Belyaev, words by nun Maria.

2. «Do good things», music by V. Belyaev, words by nun Maria.

3. «At Christmas», music by V. Filatova, lyrics by P. Morozov.

4. «Mary's lullaby», Polish folk song.

5. «Nova Joy», Ukrainian Christmas song.

6. «Christmas», music by A. Kiselev, folk words.

7. «Christmas has come», music by A. Zharov, lyrics by an unknown author.

For collectives participating in the I age category, performance of at least one piece a cappella is encouraged.

For collectives participating in the II age category, it is mandatory to perform at least one piece a cappella.

For collectives-participants of III - V age categories, it is compulsory to perform the entire program a cappella.

• Vocal ensembles and soloists

 
Each vocal ensemble or soloist performs one or two pieces:

1. A piece of the Orthodox singing tradition, appropriate for performance during the celebration of the Nativity of Christ.

2. An essay on a spiritual theme dedicated to the holiday of Christmas.

It is allowed to include in the program one piece of Russian vocal classics dedicated to the holiday of the Nativity of Christ.

 

PERFORMANCE OF CATHOLIC SACRED MUSIC

• Choirs and vocal-choral ensembles

Attention!  Russian ensembles can take part in the competition for the performance of Catholic Sacred Music only with the obligatory participation in the competition for the performance of Orthodox sacred music.

Each ensemble performs one or two pieces, which may include compositions from Western European singing traditions that are appropriate for performance during the celebration of the Nativity of Christ, and compositions on a spiritual theme dedicated to the holiday of Christmas.  The number of pieces is regulated by the total playing time of the competition program.

For collectives participating in the I and II age categories, performance of at least one piece a cappella is encouraged.

For collectives-participants of the III-V age categories, it is obligatory to perform one piece a cappella.

• Vocal ensembles and soloists

 
Attention!  Russian vocal ensembles and soloists can take part in the competition for the performance of Western European sacred music only with the obligatory participation in the competition for the performance of Orthodox sacred music.

Each vocal ensemble or soloist performs one or two pieces:

1. An essay on a spiritual theme dedicated to the holiday of Christmas.

2. A piece of Western European singing tradition, appropriate for performance during the celebration of the Nativity of Christ.

Playing time of the competition program:

* up to 5 min.  - for choirs and ensembles of the I and II age categories;

* up to 7 min.  - for choirs and ensembles of the III, IV and V age categories;

* up to 5 min.  - for soloists of the I and II age categories;

* up to 5 min.  - for soloists of III, IV and V age categories;

* up to 7 min.  - for district consolidated choirs.

 

FOLK SINGING

PERFORMANCE OF ORTHODOX SACRED MUSIC

Each participant (collective or soloist) performs one or two works, which may include compositions of the Orthodox singing tradition, appropriate for performance during the celebration of the Nativity of Christ, and compositions on spiritual themes dedicated to the holiday of Christmas.  The number of pieces is regulated by the total playing time of the competition program.

Playing time of the competition program:

* up to 5 min.  - for choirs and ensembles of the I and II age categories;

* up to 7 min.  - for choirs and ensembles of the III, IV and V age categories;

* up to 5 min.  - for soloists of the I and II age categories;

* up to 5 min.  - for soloists of III, IV and V age categories.

6. Forms of the competition

The competition is held in one stage virtually.

7. Terms of the competition

8. Regulations for competitive auditions

* The appearance of the contestants must be neat and tidy.

* Contestants in sportswear or shoes, jeans are not allowed to audition.

* The use of phonograms is not allowed.

9. Awarding of winners and participants of the competition

Each jury member evaluates each performance on a 10-point scale.

Then the arithmetic mean is determined.

• 10 points – Grand Prix,

• 9-9, 9 points-winner of the first degree,

• 8-8, 9 points-winner of the II degree,

• 7-7, 9 points-winner of the III degree,

• 6-6, 9 points-diploma holder.

Special diplomas are provided.

Contestants who receive less than 6 points receive certificates of participation.

The results of the competition will be published in the «Christmas Carol» section of the competition on the website of the program «Moscow Children Sing": http://choirsofmoscow.ru/ February 20, 2021. Diplomas to the winners and participants will be sent by e-mail indicated in the applications at the end of the competition.

 

10. Procedure and terms of submitting documents for participation in the competition

Participation in the competition is free.

To participate in the competition, you must fill out an online application no later than February 10, 2021.

Attention!  Submitting an online application for participation in the competition confirms consent to the processing of the personal data of the participants by the Organizing Committee. The information provided in the online application will be used for the issuance of diplomas. Only teachers and accompanists specified in the online application can be awarded with the competition.

 

Attention! Changes in the competition programs after submitting the online application are not allowed!

Feedback from the participants will be carried out exclusively by phone numbers and e-mail specified in the online application.

Participants of «Academic singing» must attach to the online application the sheet music scanned or typed in the music editor of all the works of the competition program.  Each work must be a separate pdf file.

Participants must also attach a link to the video recording of the competition performance to the online application.  Video recording must meet the following requirements:

* the video must be presented in the format of a concert performance, without stopping (except for the "virtual choir" format);

* video filming must be carried out without turning off and stopping the video camera - from the beginning to the end of the performance of the competition program, subsequent editing is not allowed;

* the provided video should be of high quality resolution (preferably 1920 × 1080 with a video aspect ratio of 16: 9), horizontal screen orientation, using a tripod is mandatory. The sound should not contain extraneous noise;

* video recording of the competitive performance must be created no earlier than September 1, 2020.

 

The video recording of the competitive performance must be posted on the YouTube video service (https://youtube.com).  Videos posted on other Internet services or sent by e-mail are not accepted for participation in the competition.

When uploading videos to YouTube, you must specify:

* In the field «Video title»:

- country,

- city,

- name and surname of the soloist / name of the group.

* In the «Description» field:

- the name of the competition: «Christmas Carol – 2021»,

- nomination,

- age of the participant / age range of the collective members,

- the executable program,

- surname, name, patronymic of the teacher / collective leader

Videos that do not meet these requirements will not be scored.

11. Contacts

ORGANIZING COMMITTEE OF THE COMPETITION:
«Center for Creative Development and Musical and Aesthetic Education of Children and Youth «Radost»
125008, Moscow, Mikhalkovskaya st., 22
Tel .: + 7 (495) 708 9625, +7 (916) 545 4107

DIRECTIONAL COORDINATORS:

«Academic singing»
Anastasiya Pavelko

Tel .: +7 (916) 545 4107
E-mail: nastya_chess@mail.ru  

 

«Folk singing»
Olesya Karaseva
Tel .: +7 (926) 279 0009
Е-mail: olesyadnx@mail.ru