RULES AND REGULATIONS
GENERAL INFORMATION
- All competitions are through online submission. There is no in-person audition.
- Updated starting October 2022: Competitors compete for Grand Prize 100%, First Prize with Honors, Second and Third Prize, Honorable Mention or Merit per age category. All competitors get emailed pdf-certificates and a comment sheet report card with scores.
- Grand Prize (100%), First Prize with Honors (98 and 99%), First Prize (95-97%), Second Prize (90-94%), Third Prize (85-89%), Honorable Mention (80-84%), Merit (<80%).
- Multiple opportunities and categories to compete.
- All forms of music making, all genres and styles, and open repertoire allow a fair chance for all musicians to compete.
- Application is simple. Enter during the calendar month of your competition by uploading your YouTube performance or in the case of the composition competition, have your pdf or audio composition file ready. Complete the application form. Make sure you have your video link ready. Make payment and submit.
- The competition is open to all ages, students, amateur and professional musicians, composers, music students including informal, self-taught musicians.
APPLICATION
Every month's competition application opens on the first day of the month and is open for the full calendar month closing at 11:59 pm US Eastern Time on the last day of the month.
All applications are non-refundable.
Results will be shared on the winners’ page on the 28th of the following month and per email notification on or before the 26th of the following month.
The application fee is nonrefundable.
Sheet music/scores are not required, but are encouraged. See every month's page for specific information on the sheet music requirement.
IYMC may use images, audio and/or video for marketing purposes, but entrants (composers) retain copyright to their compositions.
By entering, minors confirm that they have parental consent to participate.
IYMC retains the right to disqualify any material that is deemed inappropriate, offensive or inadmissible.
All performers are required to perform in suitable recital style or concert attire. Costumes, traditional attire and uniforms are acceptable in the appropriate entry categories. Please refrain from wearing performance attire with writing, slogans, text, or advertisements on.
IYMC respects the rights and privacy of all and does not discriminate based on ethnicity, race, nationality, gender, religion, or sexual orientation.
ENTRY CATEGORIES
- Competitors may enter multiple pieces in one entry month category, but each piece is a separate submission and separate entry fee.
- Competitors may enter several categories in each year.
- Competitors may enter the same piece in various categories over the course of a year.
- Your competition material/performance must be no more than 18 months old.
- Your entry is adjudicated in your age category.
REPERTOIRE
- There is no specific length or time restriction, however judges reserve the right to judge only the first 10 minutes of lengthy compositions.
- Repeats at the performers discretion. All Da Capo must be observed.
- In the Classical categories, single movements of sonatas or concertos may be entered. Single dances from Suites may be entered. Prelude and Fugues may be entered as separate pieces. Theme and Variations must be entered as a complete piece.
- Concertos may be entered with piano reduction accompaniment, with concerto backtrack, or with live orchestral musicians.
- Vocalists may enter a capella selections if that is the style of the entry. Songs with accompaniment e.g. art songs, opera arias, etc. must be performed with live or recorded accompaniment. In popular and commercial music categories, singers may use backtracks, live accompaniment or self-accompany.
VIDEO REQUIREMENTS
- All participants will provide publicly accessible video links to YouTube.
- ALL IYMC competitions for all 12 months of online competitions per calendar year, require only ONE composition/movement/repertoire piece.
- IYMC takes no responsibility for videos that have permissions set to limit viewership or are published through any other video sharing platform (vimeo, etc). Ensure that your video is viewable by a third party, even if you choose to make them unlisted. Record your selection as many times as you like. Ensure that you have permission to perform a selection if your work is not in public domain.
- Recordings must consist of uninterrupted video footage of the participant/group, preferably from a single camera angle with coverage of the performer’s full or upper body at all times. No video splicing (editing a video by putting different video takes together). In case of ensembles and large groups such as choirs, bands, or orchestras, the entire group must be visible at some point in the video including all accompaniment instruments/performers. Some visual editing is permitted particularly in the large groups, jazz combo, world music and other categories where different camera angles may be put together. Some videos may also contain drop-in photo images as is suitable for your genre.
- Video submissions must be of your own performance. Lip sync or dubbed performance is not acceptable as it is not verifiable for the jury if the performance is in fact your own original performance. Instrumental video must be angled in such a way that we can see that it is actually the performer playing, for example do not have a music stand covering your instrument/fingers, do not angle the camera in such a manner that we cannot see your hands and fingers playing on the piano, and etc.
- Virtual choir, orchestra and band competitions: Simply submit your link to your virtual music performance compilation (typically an edited, multi-image video product).
- Although IYMC does not require professional recordings and accepts video made at your home studio on your devices such as computer, tablet or phone, keep in mind that the video and audio quality must be such that the judges have a clear and fair representation of your performance. Please have a steady image - avoid handheld shaky video. Please check focus, clarity, lighting and camera angle. You will not lose points in your evaluation but a good video and audio quality makes judging easier.
- In the Music Composition category during June each year, submissions may be a pdf, or audio only. It is not necessary to have your new composition in live performance for YouTube video.
- Please have video cued to begin within five seconds after the video starts. In the event that you have more than one piece (movement/composition) on the video, the judges will listen to the FIRST repertoire piece on the video.
- Recordings must feature the work the participant entered on the entry form.
- YouTube videos must be labeled/named clearly with the STUDENT NAME/GROUP NAME and the title and composer of your piece. You will not be disqualified if this is not absolutely correctly labeled.
- There is no need to announce yourself or provide any text to your video. However, your video will not be disqualified for announcement or text.
RESULTS
Prizes and Results
- Adjudication is per age category. There are grand (100%), first with honors, first, second and third prizes, Honorable Mention and Merit Awards, in each age category.
- Categories are:
Junior 1: age 8 and 9
Junior II: ages 10 to 13
Senior: ages 14 to 18
Collegiate: age 19 to 26
Open: 27+
Mixed: Mixed ages
- Age is calculated as your age on the 1st day of the month of the competition (e.g. for the May competition, i.e., your age on May 1st.)
- The adjudicators will begin their review of application footage directly after the application deadline. All adjudication will be completed within the month following the entry month. All winners will be announced in the last week of the following month, e.g., the March competition winners are announced April 24-26, the April competition winners are announced May 24-26, etc. and the winners list results are posted to our website on or before the 28th of every month.
- Within each category any number of grand prize, first-, second-, and third-prize winner(s), honorable mentions and merits will be awarded. All participants receive pdf certificates. All participants will also receive a comment sheet/report card from the judges.
- IYMC may feature select winners and promote young artists through announcement, links to their social media, etc.
- All results are final and unappealable.
- Make sure of the requirements before starting to fill out the application: Read all rules, guidelines, and agreements. Ensure that the participant’s instructor (if applicable) and in the case of minors, the parent(s), are aware of the candidate or group's intent to participate, and obtain verbal or written consent. Confirm the information of the selection(s) one wishes to perform with complete title, composer first and last name, movement title or tempo indication, BWV or other catalogue numbers when available.
- In the case of large school groups such as orchestras, bands and choirs, the responsible adult must ensure to have media release permission and consent from minors' parents to participate in this competition.
- All entries are 40 US dollars per entry and only the December Artists of the Year competition is $50. Have a PayPal account, credit card, or debit card ready as you start your entry.
QUERIES
Please email us at [email protected] if you have any questions.