The Boris Tevlin International Competition of Choral Conductors

1. General Provisions

1.1. The full official name of the competition is Tchaikovsky Moscow State Conservatory’s International Boris Tevlin Competition of Choral Conductors (hereinafter to be referred to as “the Tevlin Competition”).

1.2. The Tevlin Competition was established in 2014 by Tchaikovsky Moscow State Conservatory (hereinafter
to be referred to as “the Conservatory”), with support of Russia’s Ministry of Culture.

1.3. The Tevlin Competition is held every four years. The dates of the respective year’s Competition are to be specified and published on the Conservatory’s official website in advance: see the webpage of the respective year’s Tevlin Competition with a specific number.

1.4.1. The competition program is to be specified separately for each round (see clause 4.6) and published
on the Conservatory’s official website in advance: see the webpage of the respective year’s Tevlin Competition with a specific number.
1.4.2. The Organizing Committee of the Tevlin Competition (hereinafter to be referred to as “the Organizing Committee”: see clause 8.1) renders assistance to the competitors in the obtaining of sheet music of the obligatory pieces.

1.5. The working languages of the Tevlin Competition are Russian and English only.

2. Prizes of the Tevlin Competition

2.1.1. The Organizing Committee is to announce:

• (1) five monetary prizes for the laureates upon completion of Round Three;
• (2) two monetary prizes for the best accompanists upon completion of Round Two;
• (3) non-monetary certificates of merit, honorary diplomas and/or other thematic awards for the participants
  of Rounds Two and Three (see clause 4.9).

2.1.2. The amounts of all prizes are to be specified and published on the Conservatory’s official website
in advance: see the webpage of the respective year’s Tevlin Competition with a specific number.

2.2. Upon the Organizing Committee’s consent, public organizations, foundations, mass media and/or individuals may establish
any additional prizes, awards and/or gifts for the competitors. Decisions to award any special prizes and/or gifts will be made by the Tevlin Competition Jury (hereinafter to be referred to as
“the Jury Team”).

2.3. All the prizes will be paid to the awardees and to the best accompanists in rubles, tax deducted under Russia’s legislation.

3. The Jury Team of the Tevlin Competition

3.1. Members of the Jury Team are to be appointed by the Organizing Committee, and their list is to be published on the Conservatory’s official website in advance: see the webpage of the respective year’s Tevlin Competition with a specific number.

3.2. The results of each round are to be announced publicly as soon as it ends and then published on the Conservatory’s official website: see the webpage of the respective year’s Tevlin Competition with a specific number.

3.3. The Jury Team may, at their own discretion:

• 3.3.1. award not all of the prizes;
• 3.3.2. divide the amounts of any prizes between several awardees within the limits of the established prize fund;
• 3.3.3. share the monetary part of non-awarded prizes between the awardees of any other prizes and/or
  the other best accompanist, within the limits of the established prize fund;
• 3.3.4. award any other special prizes (see clause 2.2).

3.4. All decisions of the Jury Team are final and irrevocable.

3.5. Upon a decision of the Jury Team, any competitor’s performance in any round may be shortened or stopped.

3.6. No member of the Jury Team, including the chairperson, may vote for any competitors who officially
have been/were his/her students during the three years immediately preceding the respective year’s Tevlin Competition. Should such a case take place, the respective member of the Jury Team must notify the Organizing Committee thereon in writing prior to the beginning of the auditions.

4. Procedure for Holding the Tevlin Competition

4.1. Students of the choral conducting faculties of specialized institutions of music education, as well as professional choral conductors, who are not younger than 18 but younger than 36 years as of the first day of the respective year’s Tevlin Competition may take part in it.

4.2. The First-prize laureate of Tevlin Competition No. Z may not participate in Tevlin Competition No. Z+1
(see clause 1.3).

4.3. Each applicant who has received an official notification from the Organizing Committee that he/she is admitted to participate in Round One must personally attend the organizational meeting at the Conservatory (hereinafter to be referred to as “the Initial Meeting”). Information about the time and venue of the Initial Meeting is to be published on the Conservatory’s official website in advance: see the webpage of the respective year’s Tevlin Competition with a specific number.

4.4. The Organizing Committee is to appoint three drawings of lots: see the webpage of the respective year’s Tevlin Competition with a specific number.

• 4.4.1. The first drawing of lots is to be held during the Initial Meeting in order to establish the unified sequence of the competitors’ performances in all the rounds (see clause 4.10).
• 4.4.2. The second drawing of lots is to be held during the Initial Meeting in order to distribute the pieces whose scores will have to be performed by the competitors on the piano by heart in Round One.
• 4.4.3. The third drawing of lots is to be held during the competitors’ meeting after the official announcement of the results of Round Two in order to distribute the pieces whose performance will have to be publicly rehearsed by the competitors with the Conservatory’s Chamber Choir (hereinafter to be referred to as
  “the CCC”) in Round Three.

4.5. Should a respective request be made in the applicant’s personal online application form (hereinafter to be referred to as “the Application”), the Organizing Committee may provide the applicant him/her with one or two accompanists:

• 4.5.1. for one music rehearsal and one acoustic rehearsal before, as well as for the performances in, Rounds One and Two;
• 4.5.2. for one technical rehearsal (in a classroom) before Round Three.

4.6. The Tevlin Competition consists of three rounds. All the auditions of the Competition are held publicly
in the Conservatory’s concert halls.

• 4.6.1. In Round One, each competitor is to perform two pieces composed for chorus a cappella.
  • (1) The first piece is to be chosen from a suggested list by the competitor himself/herself and conducted
    by heart. An accompanist is to play the choral score of the first piece on the piano.
  • (2) The second piece is to be chosen by the competitor upon results of the second drawing of lots
    (see clause 4.4.2) and performed by him/her on the piano by heart.
• 4.6.2. In Round Two, each competitor is to conduct by heart a fragment of a large vocal-instrumental piece which is to be chosen by him/her from a suggested list. One acccompanist is to play the choral score of the chosen fragment on Piano One, and the other accompanist is to play a piano reduction of its orchestral score on Piano Two.
• 4.6.3. In Round Three, each competitor is to hold a public rehearsal with the CCC of the performance of one piece composed for chorus a cappella, which he/she is to choose from a suggested list upon results of the third drawing of lots (see clause 4.4.3). Each competitor’s public rehearsal with the CCC in Round Three
  is to last from 10 to 15 minutes.

4.7. The Organizing Committee guarantees that all the competitors and their accompanists will be provided with classrooms for rehearsal in the Conservatory’s academic buildings during the term of the Tevlin Competition.

4.8.1. A maximum of 28 applicants whose sets of documents are approved by the Organizing Committee will be allowed to participate in Round One. The sets of the applicants’ documents will be considered from the points of their education, professional recommendations and practical choral conducting experience, as well as according to the level of complexity of the choral pieces they are to perform in Rounds One and Two.
4.8.2. A maximum of 16 competitors will be allowed to participate in Round Two.
4.8.3. A maximum of 8 competitors will be allowed to participate in Round Three.
4.8.4. Upon a unanimous decision of the Jury Team to be agreed with the Organizing Committee, the number of competitors in each round may be increased.

4.9.1. The participants of Round Two who have not been allowed to participate in Round Three will be awarded with certificates of merit.
4.9.2. The participants of Round Three who have not become the laureates will be awarded with honorary diplomas.

4.10. The sequence of the performances in all the rounds is to be determined upon results of the first drawing of lots (see clause 4.4.1) and remains unchanged until the end of the respective year’s Tevlin Competition, omitting the withdrawn competitors’ counting numbers.

4.11. At the end of the Tevlin Competition, an award ceremony for the laureates and a concert of the CCC (hereinafter to be referred to as “the Final Concert”) will be held. The time and venue of the Final Concert are to be set by the Organizing Committee and published on the Conservatory’s official website in advance:
see the webpage of the respective year’s Tevlin Competition with a specific number.

4.12. The laureates must perform at the Final Concert with no remuneration. In case of refusal to participate
in the Final Concert with no valid reason, the awarded prize will not be paid.

5. Submission of the Application and the Documents

5.1. In order to participate in the Tevlin Competition, the applicant must:

• 5.1.1. fill out his/her Application (see the link on the webpage of the respective year’s Tevlin Competition with a specific number) and insert the following documents into its respective fields:
• 5.1.2. the front page of the applicant’s passport or other identifying document (with the holder’s photo and signature) — as a PDF file;
• 5.1.3. the applicant’s artistic photo taken against a neutral background with a minimum resolution of 300 dpi — as a JPG file;
• 5.1.4. the applicant’s certificate of music education or certificate from his/her educational institution
  (if a student), either in Russian or in English, — as a PDF file;
• 5.1.5. the applicant’s brief artistic portfolio, including information about his/her place of study/work, the year of study at the time of the respective year’s Tevlin Competition (if a student), his/her teachers, participation
  in any other competitions of choral conductors (including the year, venue and award), his/her practical experience in choral conducting (if any), as well as any other information that the applicant considers essential for the Organizing Committee, — as a DOC/DOCX file;
• 5.1.6. professional recommendations on behalf of any renowned choral conducting teachers and/or choral conductors (optional but desirable), — as PDF files.

5.2. Every applicant who is a citizen of Russia must submit three additional documents: see the Tevlin Competition webpage in Russian.

5.3. The deadline for submitting the Application and the documents is to be specified and published on the Conservatory’s official website in advance: see the webpage of the respective year’s Tevlin Competition with a specific number.

5.4. The fact of forwarding the Application to the Organizing Committee (see clause 5.1.1) means the applicant’s unconditional consent with all the clauses of these Regulations and their Annex.

5.5. The Organizing Committee may reject any Applications and/or documents that do not meet any of the above-mentioned requirements.

6. Financial Terms

6.1. A registration fee for participation in the Tevlin Competition (hereinafter to be referred to as “the Fee”)
is to be paid after the Initial Meeting by the Organizing Committee’s instruction in any of the following four currencies: (1) Russian rubles; (2) Chinese yuans; (3) US dollars; (4) euros.

6.2. The amount of the Fee is to be updated and published on the Conservatory’s official website in advance: see the webpage of the respective year’s Tevlin Competition with a specific number. The Organizing Committee assumes that the amount of the Fee is to be economically equivalent in all the four currencies; however, the team reserves the right to adjust it selectively, considering any current fluctuations of the respective exchange rates to be officially established by the Bank of Russia.

6.3. All transportation and other expenses directly or indirectly related to participation in the Tevlin Competition have to be paid either by the competitors and their accompanists (if any) themselves or by their sponsoring organizations.

7. Special Provisions

7.1. The Conservatory is one and the only owner of an exclusive copyright for audio- and/or video-recording, as well as for any TV and/or online broadcasts, of all the rounds and the Final Concert.

7.2. The competitors receive no remuneration for their performances during the rounds; nor are they paid any copyright for any usage of audio- and/or video-recording, as well as of any TV and/or online broadcasts, of any of their performances by the Conservatory.

7.3. These Regulations are published on the webpage of the Conservatory’s International Boris Tevlin Competition of Choral Conductors located on the Conservatory’s official website, both in Russian and in English. All the clauses that concern the holding of each Tevlin Competition in the respective year are published on the webpage of the respective year’s Tevlin Competition with a specific number, both in Russian and in English.

7.4. Should any dispute or disagreement arise in the interpretation of any of the terms of these Regulations and/or their Annex, the versions published in Russian shall prevail.

8. Contact Information

8.1. The Tevlin Competition’s Organizing Committee is the Department for Festivals, Competitions and Special Events of Tchaikovsky Moscow State Conservatory’s Center for Coordinating Artistic Projects.

• 8.1.1. Official telephone number: +7 (495) 055 5519.
• 8.1.2. Official e-mail address: artmosconsv@gmail.com
• 8.1.3. Official mailing address: 13 Bolshaya Nikitskaya Street, Moscow, 125009, Russia.