SIBELIUS SINGING – RULES 2025
I GENERAL
The Järvenpää Sibelius Festival, in partnership with the City of Järvenpää, is arranging Sibelius Singing, an international duo competition for singers and pianists, in Järvenpää, Finland, on April 24-26, 2025. The competition is open to Lied duos of any nationality, both members of which must have been born in or after 1990. The person can participate in the competition only as a member of one duo.
II APPLICATION
Application for the competition is online at www.sibeliussinging.fi. The link to the application form will become operative on October 15, 2024 and the deadline for application is December 10, 2024. Late or incomplete applications will not be considered.
The application must be accompanied by the following for both members of the duo:
- personal details
- a copy of each member’s passport or official identity card
- a brief CV
- an account of studies and previous competitions
- the chosen competition repertoire
- a joint photograph of the duo
- a quality audio-visual recording in mp4 format for pre-selection purposes. Instructions for how to save it will be issued on submission of the application.
Application fee
The non-refundable application fee 100 € / duo will be payed when the application form is completed.
Audio-visual recording requirements
Both the singer and the pianist must be clearly visible throughout the performance in the audio-visual recording. The video and sound recording must not be edited. The place and date of recording must be stated in the application documents. The video performance must consist of two songs from the competition repertoire, one of them by Sibelius and the other of the duo’s own choice.
III PRE-SELECTION
A panel appointed by the Competition Committee will select duos on the basis of the application documents and audio-visual recordings. The panel will select about 30 duos for the competition. The names of the successful duos will be announced on the competition website by January 31, 2025. There will be no right of appeal.
IV COMPETITION SCHEDULE AND REPERTOIRE
Each duo must be present at the opening ceremony of the competition and when the order of performance is decided by lot at the Järvenpää Hall at 6 pm on April 23, 2025. The order of performance will remain the same throughout the competition.
First round
The number of songs is not limited but the programme must include:
- a song by Sibelius
- a song by one of the following composers: Schubert, Schumann, Brahms, Wolf
- a song by a composer other than Sibelius from a Nordic country (Finland, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Iceland)
The total performance should last not longer than 15 minutes. The Jury will select 8–10 duos from the preliminary round for the finals.
Finals
Repertoire of the duo’s own choice but including songs totalling at least 10 minutes by Sibelius. At least two of the Sibelius songs must be from the following opuses: 35, 38, 50, 57, 61, 86, 88, 90.
The total finals performance must last not longer than 25 minutes.
The competition programme either in First round or Finals must include at least one song composed after year 1980.
V RULES FOR PERFORMANCE
Minor changes may be made to the repertoire up to March 3, 2025. Changes must be notified in writing in accordance with separate instructions issued by the competition organisation.
All the Sibelius songs must be performed in the original language. The singer must perform all the songs from memory. The competition songs may be transposed.
Duos may not offer the same song twice. The order of performance of the songs is free and the Competition Office must be informed of the order at the beginning of each round.
A duo that is not ready to perform when its turn is due may be disqualified from the competition. A duo may, on presentation of a medical certificate, be permitted to perform later during the round.
VI JURY
The Jury will have five members: three singers and two pianists. The competition will be judged according to the principles and procedures laid down in the Rules for the Competition Jury. The decisions of the Jury will be final.
VII PRIZES
The following prizes will be awarded:
I €10,000
II €7,200
III €5,000
The Jury will have the right to distribute the prizes in some other way. Special prizes may also be awarded.
VIII TRAVEL AND ACCOMMODATION
Duos will be offered free accommodation organized by the competition organization. The competitors can also choose other accommodation by their own cost. Each duo will be responsible for its own travelling expenses to and from Järvenpää.
IX OTHER RULES
Duos undertake to abide by the competition rules, the rules governing performance and the Jury’s decisions. A duo that fails to abide by the rules may be disqualified from the competition.
The competition organisers or an agreed third party have unlimited rights, both regional and temporal, to record, show and distribute the competition performances in various media without payment to the duos in question.
Duos not selected for the finals will be given an opportunity to discuss their performance with members of the Jury.
The original language of these rules is Finnish. Any disputes will be decided by the Competition Committee according to the Finnish text.
The competition organisers retain the right to alter the rules.
