Conditions

1.1. These Rules shall govern the procedure for holding the third Vladimir Spivakov International Violin Competition (hereinafter referred to as ‘Competition’).

1.2. The convenor of the Competition is the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Bashkortostan.

1.3. The Artistic Director of the Competition shall be Vladimir Spivakov, People’s Artist of the USSR.

1.4. The venue of the Competition shall be the city of Ufa, capital of the Republic of Bashkortostan, Russian Federation.

1.5. The Competition shall be held between 9 and 15 February 2021.

1.6. The applicants’ age shall be 15 to 26 as at the time of the initial opening dates Competition opening day (17 October 2020).

1.7. Applications for participation in the Competition shall be submitted via the Competition’s official website, www.vsvc.org.

2.1. An Organising Committee shall be established for conducting preparations and monitoring compliance with the provisions of this Regulations, to include representatives of the Convenor, organisers, and the Artistic Director of the Competition.

2.2. The Artistic Director shall ultimately be entitled to choose participants in the Competition after the qualifying round.

2.3. The Organising Committee of the Competition shall provide rehearsal and recital venues with the required stage decorations, participation of a symphony orchestra and conductor in the third round and gala concert of the Competition, have the Competition televised, radio broadcast and webcast, and shall also carry out the technical and hospitality riders of the Competition.

2.4. Any disputable issues shall be resolved by the Head of the Organising Committee.

3.1. Musicians from all countries may take part in the Competition.

3.2. To take part in the Competition, one should fill in a Participant’s Application Questionnaire on the www.vsvc.org website not later than 01 November 2020 (hereinafter referred to as ‘Application’), that includes:

— the participant’s biography;
— his/her competitive programme specifying the authors and titles of the compositions to be performed, their opus numbers, tonality, and timing;
— a link to an unedited video recording of his/her qualifying round programme posted on www.youtube.com.

3.3. The application completed on the Competition’s website shall include attachments in electronic format, containing:

— the participant’s high quality feature photo;
— a high quality scan of the participant’s passport;
— the participant’s recital repertoire ready for performance in the 2021-2022 season, including solo and chamber opera magna and violin concerti.

3.4. The application shall be completed in English or Russian. Incomplete applications will not be considered.

3.5. No applications received after 01 November 2020 will be considered.

3.6. The Organising Committee reserves its right to request additional information from applicants.

3.7. The Organising Committee shall communicate its decision to admit applicants for live audition not later than 20 November 2020. All the participants will receive invitations by e-mail.

4.1. The competition shall comprise a qualifying round and three rounds of live auditions.

4.2. The qualifying round shall be held by a special jury headed by the Artistic Director of the Competition, based on the recordings submitted. The Competition participants shall be chosen after the qualifying rounds.

4.3. Not more than twelve participants will be admitted to the first round of the Competition.

4.4. Not more than eight participants will be admitted to the second round of the Competition.

4.5. Not more than four participants will be admitted to the third (final) round of the Competition.

4.6. Upon arrival, all participants shall file copies of the music sheets of the compositions to be played with the Organising Committee. These will not be returned after the auditions.

4.7. Participants will be provided with rehearsal classrooms for individual practice before each round, and will be given time for unplugged rehearsals on the concert hall stage that will house the Competition, in accordance with the rehearsal time-table.

4.8. Participants may arrive at the Competition with their own accompanists, which shall be indicated in their Applications.

4.9. If so desired, participants may be provided with accompanists for their first and second round programmes, which shall be requested in their Applications.

4.10. The sequence of the participants’ recitals shall be determined by drawing lots and then followed throughout the Competition; however, the Head of the Jury may decide to alter the sequence in the case of a participant’s illness or other force majeure circumstances.

4.11. The participants shall determine the sequence of the compositions to be played on their own.

4.12. The live auditions of the participants shall be public.

4.13. The compositions shall be played from memory. A sonata may be played by note.

4.14. The results of each round of the competition shall be announced upon its completion.

4.15. The competition shall be held in accordance with the schedule published on the Competition’s website.

4.16. The finalists of the Competition and their accompanists will be required to take part in the Competition closure ceremony and prize winners’ concert on 15 February 2021.

5.1. Qualifying round (based on recordings): a free programme of the applicant’s choice but including:

— a polyphonic composition (only one part may be played);
— a virtuoso show piece;
— a Classicist era composition (only the first or the second and third movements of a sonata or classical variations may be played);

5.2. Compositions stated to be performed in other rounds may also be played in the qualifying round.

5.3. The playing time limits for the entire qualifying round shall be 20 to 30 minutes.

5.4. First round solo programme:

— J.S. Bach, Prelude from solo violin partita No.3 in E major BWV 100;
— N.Paganini. Caprice (of the participant’s choice);
— W.A. Mozart. First movement from violin and orchestra concerti: No.3 in G major (1775) KV216, No.4 in D major (1775) KV218, No.5 in A major (1775) KV219 (at the participant’s choice; performance of his/her own cadence is desirable).

5.5. Second round solo programme:

— Violin and piano sonatas of the participant’s choice:
— L. van Beethoven, No.1 in D major (1797-98) op. 12; No.3 in E-flat major (1797-98) op. 12; Spring Sonata No.5 in F major (1800-01) op. 24; No.8 in G major (1801-02) op. 30.

or

— J. Brahms, No.1 in G major, ор. 78; No.2 in A major, ор. 100; No.3 in D minor, ор. 108 (individual movements of the Jury’s choice may be played);
— A virtuoso composition by one of the following authors:
— N. Paganini, P. Sarasate, Eu. Ysaÿe, H. Wieniawski, H. Ernst, C. Saint-Saëns, etc.;
— A piece by a 20^th century composer of the participant’s choice (not longer than 20 minutes).

5.6. Third (final) round — playing a concerto with the orchestra:

— P.I. Tchaikovsky. Concerto for violin and orchestra in D major op. 35;
— A.K. Glazunov. Concerto for violin and orchestra in A minor op. 82;
— M. Bruch. Concerto for violin and orchestra No.1 in G minor op. 26;
— N. Paganini. Concerto for violin and orchestra No.1 in D major op. 6;
— F. Mendelssohn. Concerto for violin and orchestra in E minor op. 6;
— L. van Beethoven. Concerto for violin and orchestra in D major op. 61;
— J. Brahms. Concerto for violin and orchestra No.1 in D major op. 77;
— S.S. Prokofiev. Concerto for violin and orchestra No.1 in D major op. 19;
— D.D. Shostakovich. Concerto for violin and orchestra No.1 in A minor op. 77;

6.1. The participants’ recitals shall be evaluated by an international jury.

6.2. The Head of the Jury shall be Professor Mikhail Kopelman.

6.3. The Jury of the Competition shall be entitled to:

— award not all the prize places;
— award special prizes, recognition gifts and diplomas.

6.4. Should the votes be evenly divided, the Head of the Jury shall be entitled to an additional vote.

6.5. The jury’s decision shall be final and cannot be revised.

7.1. The Jury of the Competition shall award the titles of First, Second, and Third Prize Winners of the second Vladimir Spivakov International Violin Competition.

7.2. By decision of the Jury, the prize winners shall take part in the gala concert at the Competition closure ceremony.

7.3. The results of the Competition shall be announced on the last day of the competition programme.

8.1. The prize fund of the competition shall be distributed as follows:

— First prize — a violin made by Giuseppe Pedrazzini (Milan, 1918);
— Second and third prizes — violins made by Nicolas Caussin (Neufchateau, 1860-1870) and Igor Ulitsky (Moscow, 2019);
— two individual prizes of USD 1000 each.

8.2. Special prizes from Mr. Vladimir Spivakov, Artistic Director of the Competition:

— travel to and participation in international music festivals.

8.3. Recognition gifts may be awarded.

8.4. All taxes payable in the territory of the Russian Federation under the current legislation shall be paid by the organiser of the Competition over and above the prize amount.

9.1. Registration infers the applicant’s statement that no third party recognises any copyright and/or other legal rights to the video, audio, and other materials to be created in the course of the Competition.

9.2. All the rounds of the Competition may be broadcast live and recorded for subsequent broadcasting and publication on audio and video media. The Competition will be fully or partially available for viewing on Internet.

9.3. The organiser of the Competition shall possess the exclusive right to the audio and video recordings of the recitals of Competition participants, all the concerts held as part of it, and master classes by invited musicians, and to distribute them for promotional and tuition purposes, particularly to broadcast them on paid cable television networks (without deriving any income for the organisers).

9.4. A participant in the Competition shall transfer his/her rights to the organisers, gratuitously and for an indefinite period of time, for the broadcasting and distribution of materials.

9.5. The Directorate of the Competition shall be entitled to broadcast the auditions and final concert of the Competition on the radio, television, and Internet (particularly at no additional fee for the participants).

10.1. A participant and his/her accompanist shall be provided with accommodation and catering from the day of their arrival in Ufa, but not earlier than 9 February 2021, and till the end of participation in the Competition, but not later than two days after dropping out.

10.2. Railway or economy class air tickets shall be purchased for the participant and his/her accompanist, and they shall be provided with transfers around the city (airport–hotel–concert hall–hotel–airport).

10.3. Participants in the Competition who need visas to enter the Russian Federation shall contact their nearest consulate of the Russian Federation to obtain the visas. The Organiser of the Competition shall execute and send to the participants an official invitation for making out the Russian visa. The participants shall bear any visa expenses on their own.

10.4. The Organiser shall provide no insurance for participants in the Competition.

10.5. Participants in the Competition shall declare on their own their instruments that they import as they enter Russia.

Participants in the Competition who arrive to take part but refuse to appear on stage shall bear all the costs of their stay and travel.