Competition Rules

Competition Rules – Choir Conducting section

1. National Music Academy “Gheorghe Dima” of Cluj-Napoca is organizing on 24-28 October 2024, the XX edition of the Gheorghe Dima International Music Competition – Choir Conducting section. 

2. The competition is open to conductors of all nationalities born after 1989, who have not turned 36 by the 24 of October 2024.

3. The language used during competition and courses will be English.

4. The application deadline is 9th of September 2024 at midnight Romania time. On September 12,  the selection panel will announce the 32 candidates invited to take part in the competition. The name of the conductors will be published on the website  and Facebook page of the competition.

5. The application is ONLINE. Requirements for application:
   

• Application form completely filled
• Copy of an identity document
• Good resolution photo recently taken
• Complete resume and a short BIO of maximum 800 characters
• Video of maximum 20 minutes
• A copy of these Regulations dated and signed by the candidate with the mention “read and approved”
• Proof of payment of the registration fee by bank transfer

Video requirements:

• 1 YouTube link, public or private with contrasting pieces preferably, from a concert/rehearsal
• the duration of the video must be maximum 20 minutes
• the camera is placed in front or side view of the conductor, so that the face of the conductor is visible
• the repertoire can be choral a cappella or with accompaniment (piano, organ, orchestra etc).
• the ensemble must be at least a vocal quintet.

6. The jury is formed by international panel:

President of the jury

• Cornel Groza, PhD Proffessor and Permanent conductor of the Transylvania State Philharmonic Choir

Jury members

• Patrick Russill – Head of Choral Conducting at the Royal Academy of Music, London
• Roland Börger –Choral Conducting Professor, Leipzig
• Ines Kaun – Chorus Master at the Royal Opera in Stockholm
• Cristian Bence-Muk – composer, Professor, PhD, President of the Senate of the National Academy of Music “Gheorghe Dima” from Cluj-Napoca, Vice-President of the Union of Composers and Musicologists from Romania; 
• Ciprian Para – Permanent conductor of the Ave Musica Student Choir, PhD Assoc. Proffessor in Choir Conducting at the Gheorghe Dima National Music Academy, Cluj-Napoca
• Mihaela Cesa-Goje – Conductor and director of the Composition and Conducting Department at the Gheorghe Dima National Music Academy, Cluj-Napoca, Associate of the Royal Academy of Music, London

7. The following prizes will be awarded:

• 1st Prize – 10.000 RON (̴ 2000 EUR)* and the invitation of performing a public concert with the Transylvania State Philharmonic Choir during 2025 – 2026 season
• 2nd Prize – 7500 RON (̴ 1500 EUR)*
• 3rd Prize -50000 RON (̴ 1000 EUR0)*
• Special Prize Gheorghe Dima 1500 RON (̴ 300 EUR)*
• Special Prize of the choir – 1500 RON (̴ 300 EUR)*

8. The application fee is 50 EUR net, – nonrefundable, paid by Bank transfer to:

Asociatia Academiei de Muzica Gheorghe Dima
Address: Str I.C Bratianu 25, Cluj Napoca
Name of the Bank: Banca Transilvania
Bank address: B-dul Eroilor, nr 36, 400027, Cluj Napoca
IBAN: RO19BTRLRONCRT0374277501
SWIFT/BIC: BTRLRO22

Please mention your name and the message for DIMA COMPETITION 2024 – CHOIR CONDUCTING.

9. The 32 finalists chosen to take part in the competition are required to pay 90 Euro by 19 September 2024

10. There are two Rounds of the competition, the Semifinal and the final concert.

32 conductors will be selected to enter Round 1, with 16 of those selected for Round 2. 8 conductors will be chosen for the Semifinal. Up to 5 participants will conduct the Final Concert, at the end of which prizes are awarded.

The repertoire and details about the rounds of the competition

• The First Round  (32 candidates) has one compulsory piece. The time for the first round is 7 minutes.
  

Compulsory piece:

Claudio Monteverdi: Sovra tenere herbette 

Candidates are expected to show their interpretation of the piece working efficiently with the double quintet. The piece can be run through but it is not a condition.

The ensembles for this round will be two alternating double quintets, members of Transylvania State Philharmonic Choir

• The Second Round (16 candidates) has two compulsory pieces and a list of 4 pieces from which one will be allocated to each candidate by drawing by lot.

Compulsory pieces:

Giovanni Perluigi da Palestrina: Ego sum panis vivus

Gheorghe Dima: La mijloc de codru des

Repertoire:

Alber Becker: Bleibe, Abend will es warden 

Paul Hindemith: Six Chansons, nr 2 Un Cygne și nr 3 Puisque que tout passe

Cristian Bence- Muk : Pune Doamne strajă gurii mele

Șerban Marcu: Pajul Cupidon

Candidates are expected to run through the compulsory pieces and to rehearse the piece drawn from the repertoire list. Time allowed: max 20 minutes

The ensemble for this round will be Transylvania State Philharmonic Choir.

• The Semi-final (8 candidates) has one compulsory piece which is the 1st Prize

winning piece of the Gheorghe Dima International Competition – Composition Section. The piece will be a world premiere. The 32 candidates selected to participate in the competition will receive  the score of the piece on the 26 September 2024. The second piece of the Semifinal will be allocated to each candidate by drawing by lot from a list of 5 pieces.

Compulsory piece: 1st Prize winning piece of the Gheorghe Dima International Competition – Composition Section

Repertoire:

Edward Elgar: Death on the hills

Knudt Nystedt: Prayers of kierkegaard no 1 and 2

Francis Poulenc: Timor et tremor of Quatre motets pour un temps de pénitence

Jaakko Mäntyjärvi: Double, double Toil and Trouble

Ildebrando Pizzeti: Cade la sera

For the Semifinal the time allowed is max 25 minutes. Candidates are expected to rehearse the compulsory piece and the piece drawn from the list of repertoire. The ensemble for this round will be the Transylvania State Philharmonic Choir.

In the Final Concert ( max 5 candidates) the finalists will perform the pieces rehearsed in the semifinal. Prizes will be announced after the performances in front of the public. The ensemble for this round will be the Transylvania State Philharmonic Choir.

1. There are two days of 6 free masterclasses.

• On the 26 of October 2024 – 4 sessions of free masterclasses offered by the members of the jury to the competitors who did not progress to the second round.
• On the 28 of October 2024 – 4 sessions of free masterclasses offered by the members of the Jury to the competitors who entered second round.

The masterclasses will be held by:

• Patrick Russill – Head of Choral Conducting at the Royal Academy of Music, London
• Roland Börger – Head of Choral Conducting at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater „Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy“, Leipzig
• Cornel Groza – Permanent Conductor of the Transylvania State Philharmonic Choir, Cluj Napoca
• Ines Kaun – Chorus Master at the Royal Opera in Stockholm

2. All rounds of the competition and the masterclasses are open to the public and the entrance is free. From the first round, the competition will be streamed live on the Internet

3. All Romanian repertoire of the competition is available for download from the competition website.

Participants are asked to prepare all repertoire.

4. The order of the entrance in the competition will be made by drawing lots with the ocassion of the opening ceremony on 24 October 2024. All candidates are required to be present.

5. The decision of the Jury is definitive and without right of appeal.

6. All candidates will receive diplomas of participation and certificates of active participants in the masterclasses signed by the members of the Jury. The prizes will be offered by the President and the members of the Jury.

7. All expenses: travel, meals and accommodation are the responsability of the candidate. The organizers will prepare a list of hotels in Cluj Napoca which offer special prices for the Competition.

8. Contestants requiring a Visa to take part in the Competition are requested to contact the Competition Office if an invitation letter is necessary.

9. The organisers reserve the right to make photos, audio and video recordings and to broadcast on Radio, TV and on the Internet all competition rounds and the Final concert.