Propositions 2012.

The Festival will take place under the patronage of President of Republic of Croatia, Prof. Ph. D. Ivo Josipović and with the financial support of the Ministry of Culture, City of Split and Split-Dalmatia County.

Dear Choirmasters, Choristers, Composers and Friends of choral music, it is with great joy that I invite You and Your choir to the beautiful City of Split, Croatia for the 16th International Choral Festival “Days of Spiritual Music Cro patria” which will be held from November 29th to December 2nd 2012.

You will have the unique opportunity to participate in outstanding choral competition, to have a concert and to perform during the Holy Mass in beautiful churches in Split and surroundings and to participate in Master Class for choral conductors.

Festival is organized by Jeunesses Musicales Split (member of Jeunesses Musicales International) in cooperation with Croatian composers’ association.

Festival is divided in four parts:
I.   Competitions,
II.  Concerts and church service,
III. Master Class for choral conductors,
IV.  Split sings.

I. Competitions

1) Choral Composition Competition

1. The participation is open to musicians from any country, any nationality, without age limits.
2. The Competition is dedicated to a cappella choral compositions for mixed choir in any language, with a maximum duration of five minutes, with the aim of being sung by the choirs participating in the 16th International Choral Festival “Days of Spiritual Music Cro patria”.
3. Never published or awarded in previous composition contests compositions and never publicly performed have to be sent in five copies (done with notation software) to the following address: Glazbena mladež Split, Zagrebačka 23, 21000 Split, with indication: for Cro patria by April 1st 2012.
4. No enrolment fee is required.
5. Each composer may submit a maximum of three works.
6. Title and possibly name and surname of the author of the lyrics will have to be indicated in the scores (if the text is not written by the composer). For lyrics in a language different from Croatian, English and Latin a translation (Croatian or English) will be appreciated.
7. Application must also include three printed texts of composition, separate from the score.
8. Each score will have to be marked by a numerical/alphabetical code of seven characters. The same code will have to appear on the top of a sealed envelop containing details and contacts of the composer. The envelop will also contain a statement written by the composer declaring that the submitted score is unpublished and that it has never been awarded in previous contests.
9. The composer guarantees the originality of the composition.
10. Composer must take into account the quality of the verses. Priority is given to contemporary poems, and the concept of spirituality is to be understood in a broader sense.
11. Materials sent for the competition will not be handed back.
12. Composer can also propose choir for performance.
13. By forwarding the selected composition to this contest the authors transfer their rights to the organizer, in order to: publish and write in musical notes, record on CDs and DVDs, transmit by radio and TV, transfer specified rights to third persons. All other rights will be preserved by the authors themselves.
14. Compositions will be judged by International Jury.
15. The decisions of Jury are final and shall not be appealed.
16. The judgment is made of two steps.
17. In step one Jury will decide which compositions will be performed at the 16th International Choral Festival “Days of Spiritual Music Cro patria”, and organizers will inform composer about acceptance by April 30th 2012.
18. In step two Jury will award three best compositions. Awards are: Gold, Silver and Bronze plaque “Canticum novum”.
19. The author of the winning composition (composition awarded with Gold plaque “Canticum novum”) will be awarded with 500 Euros and will be invited in the Jury of the Choral Composition Competition the following year.
20. Jury will award special prize for best choral piece of young composer (composer born not before 1983.). The award does not include money prize.
21. Croatian Writers' Association will award the Plaque "Sanctus Anastasius" for the best poem of contemporary poets. Poems published before 2007., the traditional verses and poems not written in the Croatian language will not be taken into consideration for this award.
22. The uncollected awards will not be sent via mail. They can be collected by accredited persons.
23. The organizer will do best to ensure performance of all choral pieces selected in first step of competition at the Choral Competition but is not obliged to it.
24. Submission of application and participation in the competition implies full knowledge and acceptance of these regulations.

2) Choral Competition

1. The participation is open to mixed choirs from 16 to 45 singers, from any country, with any nationality.
2. Only amateur choirs can participate at the competition. Ninety per cent of all members of a choir, except the conductor, must be amateurs (i.e. people who do not earn their main livelihood as singers).
3. There is no limit to the number of choirs taking part in the competition.
4. Choirs can compete in 3 categories:

                     A.  Programme with compulsory compositions
                     B.  Freely chosen programme
                     C.  New choral composition 

     5.    Programme of choir competing in category A should obligatory include:

                     a)    one choral piece from previous fifteen editions of Competition (from list A)
                     b)    one choral piece from member of Jury of Choral Composition Competition (from list B)
                     c)    one choral piece written by a contemporary composer of the nationality of the participating choir (freely
                            chosen).

      6.    Programme of choir competing in category B should obligatory include:

                    a)    one choral piece written by a contemporary composer of the nationality of the participating choir (freely
                           chosen)
                    b)    two choral pieces chosen freely from any period desired.

      7.    The total duration of performed repertoire in categories A and B must be between 10 and 15 minutes of pure
             singing time (that is, the duration of the performed pieces excluding applause and going onto or leaving the stage).
             5 points will be withdrawn from the total result of each choir who does not comply with this rule.
      8.    Choir competing in category C will perform one new choral piece accepted by Jury of Choral Composition
             Competition.
      9.    Choirs competing in category A or B obligatory compete in category C.
     10.   Choirs can choose to compete only in category C.
     11.   Choir has to send application to the following address: Glazbena mladež Split, Zagrebačka 23, 21000 Split, Croatia
             with indication: for Cro patria or to e-mail: Ova e-mail adresa je zaštićena od spambota. Potrebno je omogućiti JavaScript da je vidite. by April 30th 2012.
     12.   No enrolment fee is required.
     13.   In application choir will indicate:

                       a)    name of the choir, address, e-mail, telephone number and, if available, fax number,
                       b)    name, surname, home address, e-mail and telephone number of the choirs president,
                       c)    name, surname, home address, e-mail and telephone number of the conductor,
                       d)    the categories which the choir wishes to enrol in,
                       e)    total number of members of the choir.

      14.    Application must also include:

                       a)    short CV of choir and conductor in Croatian or English,    
                       b)    a statement by the President or Conductor declaring that the choir is made up exclusively of amateurs
                              in Croatian or English,
                       c)    a recent high quality colour digital picture of the choir and a portrait photo of the conductor,
                       d)    a recent (recorded last 2 years) CD, DVD or tape recording (possibly as an mp3 file to be sent by email)
                              of the choir not shorter than 15 min with a declaration by the director, stating the authenticity
                              and the date of the recording.

      15.    Choirs are admitted after a selection of the Artistic Board.
      16.    The decision if the choir is qualified to take part in festival will be given no later than May 7th 2012.
      17.    Choirs awarded at Cro patria 2011 enter competition directly. They don’t have to send recording of the
               choir on audio, video tape or CD.
      18.    Up to September 1st 2012 the choirs approved for participation in category A or B should send:

                       a)    Titles of the pieces for the performance (no abbreviations) in original language and their translations
                               in English. Titles should be lined up in order of performance.
                       b)    Names and date of birth/death of the composers and the authors of the lyrics (no abbreviations)
                              Titles of songs and authors’ names should be clearly written in their original language in Latin alphabet.
                       c)    approximate duration of the each piece
                       d)    5 perfectly readable copies of each chosen score (The scores submitted by the participating
                              choirs will not be given back and will remain for the archive of the Competition.)
                       e)    name list and voice type of all choir singers participating in Competition.

   19.    Choirs can not perform choral piece they performed at last edition of Competition.
   20.    Choir which did not submit the required documentation in due time forfeits a right to take part in the Competition.
   21.    The Artistic Board reserves the right to recommend the replacement of the submitted scores.
   22.    The order of the performed songs is up to the conductor’s choice. Once submitted to Organizer it is not subject
             to change.
   23.    In case of changes of the keys printed in the scores the jury must be informed in writing prior to the competition.
   24.    The compositions must be performed in the original language.
   25.    Choirs competing only in category C should send name list and voice type of all choir singers participating in
            Competition up to October 22nd 2012.
   26.    Choral pieces for category C will be published on official web site of Jeunesses Musicales Split: www.gmsplit.com
            on April 30th 2012.
   27.    Only one choir can perform one choral piece from category C.
   28.    Choirs can choose which one of offered pieces they want to perform in category C.
   29.    Choirs have to inform Organizer as soon as possible by e-mail: Ova e-mail adresa je zaštićena od spambota. Potrebno je omogućiti JavaScript da je vidite. about their choice.
   30.    Choral piece will be given to choir that first chooses a particular piece. 
   31.    Composer participating in Choral Composition Competition can propose choir for performance of his/her composition.
            If accepting proposal, choir will add to their application name of author and name of composition and if choir and
            composition qualified to participate in Choral Competition choir will perform that piece in category C.
   32.    All competition performances will take place in front of audience.
   33.    The order of the choirs’ performance in each category will be decided by the Artistic Board and will be notified by
             e-mail or fax to each participating choir not later than October 31st 2012.
   34.    Performances will be judged by an international jury made up from five to seven members.
   35.    Each jury member may award a maximum of 100 points for each choir and for category.
   36.    The judgement given by each member of the Jury is absolutely individual. The Jury’s overall judgement will be
             expressed by an arithmetical mark, resulting from the average of the points given by each member,
             excluding the highest and the lowest mark.
   37.    Jury evaluates: intonation, fidelity to the score, sound quality, interpretation and overall artistic impression.
   38.    The decisions of Jury are final and will not be appealed. The deliberations of the jury are not public.
   39.    The result will be announced at the end of each category (after the Jury's meeting) but the awarding ceremony will
             be done at the Closing ceremony.
   40.    According to the mark achieved in category A or B, Bronze, Silver and Gold Diplomas will be awarded. If the choir
            does not achieve a Diploma (mark under 70) it will receive a Certificate of participation.
   41.    In category A and B there are the following prizes:

                        -    Golden Diploma (from 90 to 100 points)
                        -    Silver Diploma (from 80 to 89 points)
                        -    Bronze Diploma (from 70 to 79 points)

   42.    In category C jury will award three best choirs.
   43.   Awards in category C are: Gold, Silver and Bronze plaque “Katedrala”.
   44.   There is no ex-aequo for awards in category C. In the case of arithmetic ex-aequo awards will be determined by the
            average of scores given by each member of the Jury.
   45.   There is also award of the audience for best performance in category C (awarded on the basis of the result
            obtained from the audiences vote), plaque “Zlatna Katedrala”.
  46.    Choirs competing in both categories A and C have the opportunity to win plaque for best choir of competition
            awarded by Croatian composers’ association and 1.000 Euros. This special prize will be awarded to choir which
            obtain most points together in both categories.
  47.    The conductor of the best choir of competition has the right to take part of the choral competition Jury within three
           years.
  48.    Tourist Board of Split will award best foreign choir in category C with 500 Euros.
  49.    Awarded choirs with highest mark in each category and best choir of competition are expected to sing at Closing
           ceremony.
  50.    All choirs participating in Choral Competition will be expected to participate in “Split sings”.
  51.    All awards shall be paid in HRK at the current bank rate. The money prizes are subject to withholding taxes.
  52.    The uncollected awards will not be sent via mail. They can be collected by accredited persons.
  53.    All travel expenses, accommodation expenses and any additional costs are covered by the participating choirs
           themselves. Organizer Glazbena mladež Split can help arranging accommodation.
  54.    All rights on audio, video and photographic recordings made at the competition belong to the organizer. Choirs will not
           get any recompense for their performances, but will receive recording of their performances on CD's.
  55.    Music stand for conductor will be provided by the Organiser at the Competition venue.
  56.    The Artistic Board reserves the right to limit the number of entries for each category.
  57.    The Artistic Board reserves the right to join two categories or to cancel category if he feels that there are
            insufficient entries.
  58.    The Artistic Board reserves the right to refuse entry to any choir to any category.
  59.    The Artistic Board reserves the right to add to or alter these rules.
  60.    It is contrary to law to perform music if the score has been reproduced illegally. Should a choir do so the Festival
           accepts no responsibility for any action taken by publishers.
  61.    Submission of application and participation in the competition implies full knowledge and acceptance of
           these regulations.
  62.    In case of misunderstandings on the interpretation of these Regulations, the Croatian text is the only
           valid one to be considered.

 II. Concerts and church service

Choirs participating in Competition have the opportunity to have a concert and to perform during the Holy Mass in beautiful churches in Split and surroundings. Choirs willing to have concert or to sing during Holy Mass will indicate that in their application. Organizer will contact them to arrange details. Choirs can also participate only in this part of Festival. Concerts are organized without any remuneration for the performers.

III. Master Class for choral conductors

IV. Split sings

During their stay in Split all choirs participating in Festival will be expected to sing in open air short concerts throughout the historical city centre to demonstrate their singing skills to the people from Split and its guests.

I hope dear choir conductors, singers and composers, that you will take part in our festival and take this unique chance to meet other choirs in the most beautiful possible setting. Looking forward to meeting you in Split and having a wonderful time together, I remain with best regards,


                                                                                                    Marijo Krnić, MSc
                                                                                                    President of JMS





CATEGORY A – COMPULSORY PIECES – LIST A

1. Ambrož Čopi / lit.: Omnes gentes, plaudite manibus
2. Tomislav Uhlik / Jakša Fiamengo: Rič prileti sve
3. Vlado Sunko / Enes Kišević: Majka
4. Nikša Njirić / lit. : Dođite, kličimo!
5. Branko Okmaca / Daniel Načinović: Hvalospjev svetom Dujmu
6. Peter Šavli / Josip Murn Aleksandrov: Vprašanje
7. Joseph Twist / lit.: Lamentation of Jeremiah
8. Blaženko Juračić / lit.: Ubi caritas
9. Luke Mayernik / lit.: IKON
10. Ivana Rudić-Mitrović / Strahimir Sučić: Donesi nam mir

CATEGORY A – COMPULSORY PIECES – LIST B

1. David Bennett Thomas / Langston Hughes: In Time of Silver Rain
2. David Bennett Thomas / lit.: De profundis (never performed)
3. Philippine ethnic song / arr. John August Pamintuan: Saging Tundan
4. Philippine ethnic song / arr. John August Pamintuan: Ummah, sallih
5. Kurt Bikkembergs / Rabindranath Tagore: The Sky is filled with Stars and the Sun
6. Kurt Bikkembergs / lit.: Salve Regina
7. Ēriks Ešenvalds / lit.: O Salutaris Hostia
8. Ēriks Ešenvalds: A drop in the ocean
9. Josu Elberdin: Da pacem, Domine
10. Josu Elberdin: Alleluia
11. Joseph Twist: On the Night Train