RULES AND REGULATIONS
§ 1
1. Organized by Henryk Wieniawski Musical Society of Poznań in cooperation with Polish Union of Artist Violin Makers and National Museum in Poznań, 13th International Henryk Wieniawski Violin Making Competition, shall be held in the category of the violin between 8 and 15 May 2016.
2. The Competition is open to professional violin makers of all ages and nationalities. However, first prize winners at previous editions of International Henryk Wieniawski Violin Making Competition and close relatives of members of the Jury are not eligible to participate in the Competition.
3. To be eligible to participate in the Competition, candidates must submit their application by 31 January 2016 on the form enclosed in the present Rules and Regulations. The form should be filled legibly, preferably in block capital letters or computer print.
4. Application fee is 100 Euro
or its equivalent in convertible currency per instrument. Application fee is non-refundable in case of withdrawal from or inability to participate in the Competition. Application form should be complete with proof of
remittance of application fee to the account of Henryk Wieniawski Musical Society:
13. MIĘDZYNARODOWY KONKURS LUTNICZY IM. H. WIENIAWSKIEGO
BZ WBK S.A. I/O Poznań
Account no.: 82 1090 1463 0000 0000 4600 4297
IBAN PL
SWIFT WBKPPLPP
§ 2
Eligible for participation in the competition is a violin that constitutes an original piece of work, remains property of the Competition participant, was not built earlier than 2012, and has not been awarded prizes at other competitions. To preserve traditional qualities and maintain high level of violin-making art, an expert violinmaker shall be appointed by the organizers of the competition, whose duty will be to run preliminary selection of the submitted violins and to exclude from the competition:
1. instruments that bear signs of mechanical processing,
2. instruments of eccentric shapes and colours,
3. instruments whose appearance deliberately imitates that of an old
instrument,
4. instruments built of materials other than wood.
Exclusion of instruments from the competition for reasons mentioned above shall be carried out by the appointed expert and documented in a report that will include a photographic record. The report shall be submitted to members of the jury at the body’s first session. Members of the jury will have an opportunity to inspect the instruments excluded from the competition, and in doubtful situations, reinstate them in the competition by a simple majority in a vote.
§ 3
Each participant of the Competition is entitled to submit a maximum of two violins. Should the jury, upon announcement of the results and opening the envelopes containing names of violin makers, determine that more than two instruments have been submitted for the Competition by the same maker, all instruments submitted by that violin maker are automatically disqualified and their participation in the Competition deemed null and void.
§ 4
The Competition is anonymous, hence all the participating violin makers are obliged to fulfil the following requirements:
1. A trustee must be appointed under whose name an instrument shall be submitted.
2. A card bearing the codename of the violin maker should be attached to the scroll of the instrument (if two instruments are submitted, codenames attached to both instruments should be different). The codename should be entered in Roman characters. Any additional marking is inadmissible and results in disqualification of the instrument.
3. The parcel containing the instrument should also include a sealed envelope
”A” labelled with the same codename as the card attached to the scroll of the instrument.
The envelope should contain the following data (written legibly in block capital letters or
computer print):
a) name, surname and nationality of the violin maker,
b) permanent address, telephone no., e-mail address,
c) year and place of violin construction,
d) original violin maker’s label
e) brief CV and two legibly signed colour photographs of the maker with consent
for their publication,
f) two colour photographs of the
submitted instrument (frontal and rear view), not smaller than 9x12 cm,
g) authorization to perform minor repairs if these prove necessary to make
participation
of the instrument in the Competition possible. Potential repairs shall be
performed exclusively by the Custodian of the Competition Instruments; a professional violin maker
who does not participate in the Competition.
4. A second, unsealed envelope “B” labelled with the same codename and containing spare strings of the same type as those used on the instrument should also be included in the parcel. The type of strings used on the instrument remains maker’s choice.
5. A person authorized by the Organizers of the Competition shall supervise the assignment of numbers to all instruments and shall also be the guardian of the list containing the numbers and codenames of particular instruments.
§ 5
Location of the sound post should be delicately marked in pencil on the back board of the instrument to enable the Custodian of Competition Instruments to replace it correctly in cases of displacement or overturning.
§ 6
1. Upon submitting the application form, by 1 March 2016 all participants shall receive confirmation of participation in the Competition, as well as information concerning delivery of instruments.
2. Instruments should be submitted for the Competition by 8 April 2016.
3. In case of personal delivery, the trustee must deliver the instrument(s) to the Organizers by 3 p.m. on 16 April 2016.
4. Delivery of instruments submitted for the competition and their collection after the event remains responsibility of the submitter and is carried out at their expense.
5. The Organizers of the competition do not act either as agents for the delivery of instruments submitted for the competition or for their return after the event.
6. Upon completion of the competition, instruments may be collected personally; or through the agency of a person authorised in writing by the owner of the violin; or through the agency of a courier company (collection ordered and paid for by submitter).
7. Instruments from countries outside the European Union must be accompanied by a document of temporary customs clearance, e.g. an ATA carnet and/or such other documents to authorise admission of the instruments to and their subsequent removal from the territory of Poland as will be required by the customs service in 2016.
§ 7
Participants of the Competition should at their own expense insure the instrument(s) for the period of transportation to and from Poznań, Poland. During presentation of the instruments in Poznań, Organizers of the Competition provide insurance to the equivalent of 7,000 EURO. The Organizer declares that throughout the competition the instruments shall be kept in a secured facility appropriate for the purpose and shall remain under professional care of violinmakers of the Musical Instrument Branch of the National Museum.
§ 8
Withdrawal of submitted instruments is not possible prior to the end of the Competition.
§ 9
1. The Jury of the Competition shall consist of outstanding Polish and foreign
violin makers and virtuoso violin players.
2. Composition of the Jury shall be made public prior to the opening of the
Competition.
3. The Jury shall observe the principle of full authorship anonymity throughout
the entire period of the Competition.
4. Detailed directives of the proceedings of the Jury, as well as criteria for
judgement are specified
in autonomous “Rules and Regulations of the Proceedings of the Jury”.
5. Decisions of the Jury are final.
§ 10
The Competition, whose main objective of is to select instruments of outstanding acoustic qualities, as well as ones exhibiting supreme violin-making artistry, will abide by the following sequence:
1. In Stage 1, violin-maker members of the Jury shall perform a general overview of the submitted instruments to eliminate those that do not meet the criteria set out in the present Rules and Regulations, do not exhibit qualities of artistic workmanship, or represent a low level of craftsmanship.
2. In Stage 2, in accordance with the Rules and Regulations of the Proceedings of the Jury, members of the Jury shall pronounce individual judgements on instruments admitted to this stage: violin makers shall judge the violin-making qualities, and musicians shall judge the functional-acoustic properties. At this stage of the Competition, members of the Jury shall apply the following scoring criteria:
Violin makers: 1-100 points
a) technical merit: 1-25 pt.
b) assembly, preparation for play: 1-20 pt.
c) aesthetic qualities of varnish: 1-25 pt.
d) general stylistic quality: 1-30 pt.
Musicians: 1-50 points
a) volume of sound (1-3 points per string): 4-12 pt.
b) tone of sound (as above): 4-12 pt.
c) ease of sound emission (as above): 4-12 pt.
d) equal sound volume of strings (1-3 points between strings): 3-9 pt.
e) playing comfort (height of strings, nut, smoothness of neck, neck bracket,
boards and finger board), individual properties): 1-5 pt.
The total score of Stage 2 is the sum of the violin-making and acoustic-functional scores. Instruments awarded by each member of the Jury a minimum of 70 points for violin-making qualities, and 30 points for acoustic-functional properties are admitted to Stage 3 of the Competition. However, should the number of instruments awarded the above minimum scores be insufficient, the pool of instruments admitted to Stage 3 can be complete with instruments of highest scores which did not receive the minimum of 70 points for violin-making qualities, and 30 points for acoustic-functional properties.
Based on the highest scores awarded in Stage 2, the Jury shall determine the number of instruments admitted to Stage 3 of the Competition.
3. In Stage 3 of the Competition, the Jury in its full composition shall carry out an acoustic evaluation of instruments in performance conditions. In this part of the Competition, invited solo violin players shall perform to the accompaniment of the piano (chamber hall) and orchestra (grand concert hall). These auditions are open to the public.
4. The sum of the violin-making and acoustic-functional scores of Stage 2 and the average acoustic score of Stage 3 shall determine the order of the award-winning instruments.
§ 11
Results of the Competition shall be announced in the media.
§ 12
1. The following statutory prizes have been established (gross amounts):
1st Prize (Grand Prix): 20,000 Euro and gold medal of Henryk Wieniawski Musical Society of Poznań
2nd Prize: 5,000 Euro
3rd Prize: 3,000 Euro
Prize winners shall also receive honorary diplomas corresponding with the said prizes.
According to Polish tax regulations, all financial prizes and distinctions are subject to 10% tax. The tax is remitted by the organizer of the competition.
2. Except for the fixed 1st Prize, the Jury has the right to alter the number and order of prizes, provided that the total value of prizes is not increased.
3. The instrument that is awarded the highest grade by the Jury shall become the property of Henryk Wieniawski Musical Society of Poznań.
§ 13
Furthermore, the Jury shall also award:
1. Honorary Mention - Medal of Polish Union of Artist Violin Makers for the instrument of highest violin-making qualities.
2. Honorary Mention - Medal of Henryk Wieniawski Musical Society of Poznań for the instrument of highest acoustic qualities.
3. The ”Zloty Groblicz”, a special prize awarded
by the National Museum in Poznań for the most outstanding artistic personality of the Competition.
4. All other financial and non-financial prizes awarded by institutions or
private persons should be presented to the Secretariat of the Competition by 8 May 2016.
Prizes accepted by the Organizer of the Competition are regarded as extra-statutory. Financial awards are paid
in the currency in which they have been deposited.
§ 14
1. Upon determination of the results of the Competition based on awarded scores, the names of violin makers and the instrument codenames will be disclosed. All participants of Stage 3 are presented with diplomas of participation.
2. Prize-Giving Ceremony, as well as Gala Concert performed on the award-winning instruments shall be held on 14 May 2016.
§ 15
1. Exhibition of award-winning instruments, as well as those admitted to Stages 2 and 3 of the Competition shall be held at National Museum in Poznań between Saturday, 14 May 2016 and Sunday, 22 May 2016. Participation of the said instruments in the exhibition is mandatory. Exhibition will close at 02.00 AM at Sunday 22 May 2016.
2. In respect of participation in the exhibition, the Organizers do not collect any charges from, nor pay any fees to exhibitors.
§ 16
The organizers of the competition, Henryk Wieniawski Musical Society of Poznań, as well as co-organizers reserve the right to prepare and publish photographic and television images of the award-winning instruments free of charge.
§ 17
Any disputes arising in relation to the submission of an application and or participation in the Competition, are subject to jurisdiction of a competent court in Poznań, Poland. The Polish language version of the present Rules and Regulations shall take precedence.
§ 18
All correspondence should be addressed to:
Biuro 13.
Międzynarodowego Konkursu Lutniczego im. Henryka Wieniawskiego
ul. Świętosławska 7
PL 61- 840 POZNAŃ, POLAND
tel. / fax no. + 48 61 852 26 42, 852 89 91
violinmaker@wieniawski.pl
www.wieniawski.pl
