jury regulations
1. Composition of the juries
1.1 Performances at the competition shall be evaluated and adjudicated by international juries of 5 members each, one of whom is the President. Performances for the Grand Prize will be evaluated by a full jury including all jury members headed by a member of the Artistic Board.
1.2. The composition of the juries will be determined by the Artistic Board. Each jury shall have a secretary.
1.3. Members of the international jury shall carry out their work in accordance with the Competition Announcement. In disputable cases, the standpoint taken by the Artistic Board shall be followed.
2. The work of the jury and the rules of scoring points
2.1 At the first meeting of the jury, the Director of the Competition will present the rules of the competition as defined in the Competition Announcement.
2.2 In the work of evaluation/adjudication, the following issues shall be considered by the juries:
a) fidelity to the score
b) the richness of choral articulation
c) artistic achievement
In the process of the adjudication, the points scored by performing the compulsory works and those scored by performing the optional pieces shall constitute 50-50% of the total score. Each member of the jury will award 1-10 points for the compulsory works as well as for the chosen optional works. The points awarded for the optional pieces shall be calculated as the average of the points awarded for the individual pieces. Thus, maximum 20 points may be received from each one of the individual jury members, which may total a maximum of 100 points altogether. The members of the jury shall be allowed to use only one decimal number (Thus 8.5 points may be awarded but 8.75 points may not). The members of the jury shall award their respective scores immediately after the performance of the piece and shall write it on the scoring sheet.
2.3 Choirs exceeding the given time limit shall be penalized by deducting one point for every overtime minute from their total score. Exactly the same applies to those choirs whose programs are shorter than the minimum limit.
2.4 Scoring and awarding the prizes:
The choirs may qualify to the finals on the basis of their points scored in the semi-finals. The minimum score for qualifying to the finals shall be 70 points. However, the points scored in the semi-finals are not public and shall not be forwarded into the finals.
Awarding the prizes shall be administered on the basis of the points scored in the finals.
1st prizes may not be awarded below 85 points
2nd prizes may not be awarded below 80 points
3rd prizes may not be awarded below 75 points
No prize shall be shared. In an exceptional case if the difference between the final scores of two choirs is less than one (1) point, the jury may propose to award two prizes of equal value (ex aequo). The final decision on awarding such prizes shall be made by the Director of the Competition.
At the end of the competition, the presidents of the juries shall inform the choir directors concerning the artistic achievement of their choir.
3. Competition for the Grand Prize
Choirs may enter the competition for the Grand Prize as specified in the competition announcement. This contest will be held if a minimum of three choirs have been entered. The evaluation procedure will follow the same basic principles as identified for the other competition categories.
The Jury shall decide about the Grand Prize in conclave through secret ballot by clear majority. If the competition for the Grand Prize takes place, the Grand Prize must and will be awarded.
4. Special Prizes
The special prizes will be awarded on the recommendation of the Presidents of the juries on the basis of the opinions of the jury members. The final decisions shall be made by the Artistic Board.