The Hal Leonard Vocal Competition 2017 - The North American Online Competition For Singers

OFFICIAL RULES AND GUIDELINES

In the spirit of fairness to all entries, these rules must be followed explicitly, without exception. It simply would not be fair to all other entrants if we allow an entry that does not follow all the rules.

THE RULES AND GUIDELINES APPLY TO BOTH CATEGORIES,
ART SONG AND MUSICAL THEATRE.

Official Entry Forms may be accessed at the end of the Required Repertoire for each age division within a category.

1. Entrants must be legal residents of the United States and its territories, or legal residents of Canada.
2. Deadline for entry: Video entries must be submitted by 2:00 am Central time on February 2, 2017. Any entries after that strict deadline will be disqualified. No entries will be allowed after the deadline for any reason.
3. Designated winners will be asked to provide proof of age before the dispensation of prizes.
4. Results will be announced to entrants via email and on www.halleonard.com/vocalcomp by May 1, 2017. We have added an optional field for teacher's email address to the official entry form; if the teacher's email address is entered, the teacher will also receive notification of results.
5. An entrant may only win a first place cash prize once per age division within a category (art song or musical theatre). For instance, if you win first place in the Early Teen Voices Art Song category at age 14, you cannot enter again in that category the next year at age 15. Second Place, Third Place and Honorable Mentions are free to re-enter in the same age division.
6. In the interest of fairness, employees of Hal Leonard, Hal Leonard published composers, editors, arrangers or authors, or members of their immediate families, or their students, are not allowed to enter the Hal Leonard Vocal Competition.
7. Each entry must be via video posted at www.youtube.com, with the link provided on the entry form. For information on posting videos we recommend exploring the Help section found on the YouTube homepage.
8. You must follow the repertoire guidelines. Music competitions generally have required repertoire, and the Hal Leonard Vocal Competition is no different in this regard. The publications in the required repertoire list for each category and age division have been carefully considered, and generally offer a variety of material from which to choose. In fairness, we must insist that all entrants abide by these prescribed rules.
   In the past, especially for the Children's Voices and Early Teens Voices categories, we have received inquiries that essentially ask, "May I sing a song from a book not on the required repertoire list?" Or, "My daughter has this book not on your repertoire list. May she sing a song from this instead?" The answer to these questions will always be no. In fairness to all entrants we must insist that the repertoire rules be followed. If you sing a song not from one of the publications in the required repertoire list, your entry will be disqualified. This has happened, unfortunately. It's especially upsetting to us when a young student has not received proper advice from their teacher about the repertoire for the category, and we must disqualify the entry.
9. We have received inquiries about transpositions from some voice teachers. For the Children's Voices and Early Teens Voices categories only, we will allow transposition if the voice teacher feels this solves a vocal problem for the singer. If you wish to transpose a song, it is required that you seek permission for each song that you wish to transpose. Permissions must be sought via email to vocal@halleonard.com. 
   Transpositions are allowed only to address vocal issues common to children and voices going through puberty. Transpositions will not be allowed for the high school and college categories. 
10. Each year a few teachers of young students ask questions that require stating that this audition is a complete performance of a song as published. Complete introductions, interludes, etc., must be performed. All repeats must be performed. If a singer is uncomfortable with a song which has a long introduction or interlude, choose a different song! 
11. Tasteful, stylistic ornamentation is allowed for Baroque selections in the art song category. 
12. For musical theatre selections, it is within the style for the singer to take a few interpretive liberties, but these should be deliberately chosen stylistic choices, not musical inaccuracies. The style of singing remains musical theatre, and should not venture into pop/rock/jazz improvisation. The taste and interpretive choices a singer makes will be part of what is judged. If the judges believe the singer has strayed too far away from the song as written, or from the way it is traditionally performed, it could impact the judging. Some teachers seem to think that if a singer does not sing exactly the notes and rhythms that are on the page, that the student audition should not be judged positively. It's up to the judges to decide what is acceptable within the style, and what is not.
13. Accompanists are forbidden to use photocopies. Pianists accompanying singers must play from original publications. Entries with visible photocopies or visible loose pages of any kind will be automatically disqualified. Photocopying music is illegal. The purchase of a publication does not grant the right to photocopy for rehearsal or performance with a pianist. We have also added a ban of playing from any visible loose pages of music of any kind, whether they are photocopies or pages cut from a Book, or visible loose pages of any kind in any kind of binder, because the judges cannot tell that loose pages cut from publications such as these are not photocopies.
    Singers are responsible for the accompanist's compliance with this strict rule. We cannot make any exceptions.Pianists must play from original publications, whether this is their preference or not. There is no other choice for this competition. We urge the use of page turners as necessary. We also note that many competitions have a similar rule, allowing absolutely no photocopies to be used in the performance during auditions.
14. Audio and video quality impact the impression your video makes to a degree. The picture and sound should be as clear as possible. Audio distortion is greatly detrimental to the vocal quality of the singing. While we urge you to take care to create the best audio and video quality possible, professional level production values are not necessary. Many videos made simply in homes or schools have been very good in quality of recording. We urge you to view the top placing videos in past competitions to get a sense of acceptable standards of video and audio quality. Make sure the volume is adequate in your recording. In some entries in the past the volume of the recording is so quiet that we struggle to hear the singing. If possible, record in an acoustically flattering room. Experiment with camera and microphone placement for best results. (For general tips, we recommend clicking on Help on the YouTube homepage, then seeking further information at the General Help Center.) Your YouTube video posting must be titled as follows.
15. The performance recorded for the video entry must be acoustic and not amplified. The only microphone(s) involved should be for recording, and your voice must not be amplified. Each year we have entries that are disqualified because they are using amplification and/or enhancement and mixing on the vocal microphone.
16. No mixing or sound enhancement is allowed through any kind of soundboard, including at a recording studio. No reverb can be added to the recording. The recording must be honest and acoustic. As closely as possible, it needs to be as if we were in the room listening to you perform live. You must sing live on the video. No audio dubbing over your video is allowed. Be aware that if your video entry sounds as if you have added reverb or enhanced the sound in any way, even if this is not the case, the judges will question and possibly disqualify your entry. If you are recording your video in a professional recording studio (which is completely unnecessary and possibly unwise for this competition), the sound engineer must not add reverb, sound enhancement or sound mixing in any way. We need to hear a live, acoustic, unenhanced voice.

We have attempted to thoroughly address all issues in these rules and guidelines. We repeat that, in fairness to all entrants, the official rules must be followed explicitly, without exception. The repertoire requirements must be strictly followed. If you write to us asking us to make an exception for you regarding required repertoire, or asking to submit a video entry to the competition after the stated deadline, we will simply write back stating the rules we must enforce.

We believe questions about topics beyond those covered should be very rare. If they arise, they may be directed to vocal@halleonard.com.

For more information click "Further official information' below.