5th “Principe Francesco Maria Ruspoli”
International Baroque Music Competition
Baroque Singing
Musicology
October 5-6, 2013 Castello Ruspoli, Vignanello (VT) – Italy
Artistic Director and Scientific Adviser Giorgio Monari
President of the Baroque Singing Section Sergio Vartolo
Board of Directors
Giada Ruspoli, member of the Ruspoli family
Silvestro Fochetti, President of Centro Studi e Ricerche Santa Giacinta Marescotti
Subject and Goals
The Centro Studi e Ricerche Santa Giacinta Marescotti di Vignanello presents the 2013 5th edition of the “Principe Francesco Maria Ruspoli” international competition, with the following goals:
a) honouring the memory of Prince Francesco Maria Ruspoli, leading personality of Roman Baroque and great patron of artists such as Georg Friedrich Händel, Jacques Hotteterre “Le Romain”, Antonio Caldara, Benedetto Marcello and the Poets of the Academy of Arcadia, by reviving his patronage and passion for arts and music;
b) recovering and expressing the genius loci as represented by the music of the Baroque period, which incarnated the identity of Vignanello and Castello Ruspoli during the reign of Prince Francesco Maria. He made his own court one of the most prestigious cultural centres in those days, along with other European courts;
c) favouring the launching of young talents in the field of historically informed performance of music of the Baroque period (17th and 18th cent.), also giving them the opportunity to relive the atmosphere of Castello Ruspoli, where many prominent artistic events took place;
d) ranging over several different musical fields and alternating singing with instrumental music, as well as testing new techniques also in a modern fashion;
e) promoting research and occasions for discussion in the field of musicology, ranging from historical and archival research on patronage to the study of expressive languages, musical and iconographic sources, and musical instruments in the Baroque era (17th and 18th cent.).
Structure of the competition
The “Principe Francesco Maria Ruspoli” International Competition consists of:
– one musicological section with a given topic chosen by organizers each year;
– one section alternating singing and one Baroque instrument every other year, with singing being the subject of this section for the 2013 edition.
BAROQUE SINGING SECTION
Article 1 – Participants
1.1 – This competition is open to all Italian or foreign citizens who will be of legal age and will not have turned 35 by the deadline of August 10, 2013.
1.2 – Participation in other sections of the “Principe Francesco Maria Ruspoli” Competition is not grounds for exclusion.
1.3 – Participation in previous editions of this Competition is not grounds for exclusion
Article 2 – How to participate
2.1 – Applications must be filled out using the form which can be downloaded from the 2013 edition page of the website of Centro Studi (www.centrostudisgm.it). All applications must be submitted by the deadline of July 31, 2013; late applications will not be considered.
2.2 – In order to complete application procedure, the following documentation must be enclosed:
(Incomplete applications will not be processed)
1) Detailed CV
2) Copy of valid ID
3) 2 photos in digital format (JPG, GIF, or similar) which will be used by the administrative office for the purpose of competition-related press or promotion
4) Fee of €50.00 via bank transfer to the account of “Associazione Centro Studi e Ricerche Santa Giacinta Marescotti”, at the bank: Cassa di Risparmio di Orvieto, filiale di Vignanello (VT), IBAN: IT71 E062 2073 3600 0000 1100 859 – BIC: BPBAITR1, description of payment: “Baroque Singing Section”. This fee will not be refunded if applicants fail to participate in the competition
5) Musical program of audio or audio-video recordings of applicants’ own performances; applicants must upload their recordings to the internet preferably to YouTube or using software such as Dropbox, Google Drive, wetransfer, 4 shared, divShare, iDrive, mediaFire, SugarSync. The musical program must be arranged according to the instructions under 4.1.2 of this notice, and the total dimension of uploaded files must not exceed 150MB. Applicants must also submit links to files and all necessary information to watch and/or download files, as well as a list of the files uploaded with complete information on piece authors and titles and recording places and dates, via email to Centro Studi
2.3 – All documents and links to uploaded files must be emailed to the address: centrostudisgm@gmail.com
Article 3 – Judges
The board of judges will be composed of the same members for both preliminary and final trials.
- Sergio Vartolo (President)
- Gloria Banditelli
- Jill Feldmann
- Antonio Florio
- Björn Ross
Article 4 – Trials
Competitors must pass two trials in order to access the competition, as follows:
4.1 – Preliminary trial
4.1.1 – The preliminary trial will be based on the examination of audio-video files submitted by competitors as per article 2.2.5.
4.1.2 – Competitors must adhere to the following instructions to select the repertoire for the video and/or audio-recording to be submitted to the judging committee:
– program duration: ca. 20 minutes
– repertoire: solo vocal music with harpsichord continuo; music must be original or arranged, and dating between the second half of the 17th century and the first half of the 18th century; only one piece may be in a language other than Italian
4.1.3 – The committee will select 6 (six) competitors who pass on to the second final stage.
4.2. – Final trial
4.2.1 – The final trial will be open to the public and will take place at Castello Ruspoli on Saturday, 5October 2013, starting at 2.30pm.
4.2.2 – Competitors must adhere to the following instructions in order to gather the repertoire for the final trial:
– program duration: 25’-30’
– repertoire: solo vocal music with harpsichord continuo; music must be original or arranged, and dating between the second half of the 17th century and the first half of the 18th century, in Italian or other European languages; pieces in the final trial must be different from those presented in the preliminary trial
– mandatory pieces: Giovanni Lorenzo Lulier (ca. 1660-1700), recitative and air for solo voice and continuo from a cantata for soprano [or tenor] or alto [or bass], of which a reproduction from the original manuscript will be made available to finalists and for internal use only at the beginning of September[1]
one solo piece by Händel in Italian language, chosen by competitors, that was not presented during the preliminary trial
– criteria: while criteria for choosing repertoire are personal, competitors should still aim at showing their artistic maturity and voice mastery to the judging committee
4.2.3 – The competition will provide finalists with a harpsichord and an official harpsichordist. Competitors who wish to perform with their own accompanist must inform the organizers at the time of application.
Article 5 – Finalists
5.1 – The six competitors that will have passed the first phase will be welcome to arrive at Castello Ruspoli di Vignanello from the morning of Friday, 4 October 2013.
5.2 – All finalists may have, upon request, a certificate of participation to the final trial of the competition, which will be provided after the final trial.
Article 6 – Prize
6.1 – The prize, consisting of a check for €2.000,00 (Euro two thousand/00) will be awarded to the first-place winner at Castello Ruspoli di Vignanello on Sunday, 6 October 2013. The winner will then perform as a soloist in a final concert as per article 9.
6.2 – Centro Studi also provides the winner with a demo from the concert on Sunday, 6 October 2013, and its recording on CD.
Article 7 – Judges’ decisions
Judges’ decisions are final and may not be appealed.
7.1 – The jury, according to their experience and competence, will select the six finalists on the basis of audio and/or video recordings submitted, by attributing a score from 0 to 10; the six competitors with the highest scores will be admitted to the final trial.
7.2 – The results of the preliminary trial will be published on the website of Centro Studi by 2 September 2013.
7.3 – Each judge will evaluate performances in the final trial individually and with a score in a range between 0 and 10. The jury also reserves the right to ask competitors to repeat their performances. The president, after collecting all judges’ votes, will add together the votes for each competitor, thus electing the winner.
7.4 – Results will be announced at the end of auditions, together with the name of the winner.
7.5 – In the case of ex aequo, scores will be reconsidered and the jury will proceed with discussion and to a new vote. If the jury is not able to designate one winner even after the second vote, the president will decree the winner and award the prize.
Article 8 – Rehearsal and performance schedule for final trial
8.1 – Centro Studi will provide a room for rehearsal at Castello Ruspoli on Friday 4 October 2013, starting at 1pm. Each competitor will be allowed to use the room for 45 minutes.
8.2 – The order of rehearsals will be established on a first-submitted basis. Competitors will be notified of the time within which they have to report to Castello Ruspoli.
8.3 – The order of performances will be drawn randomly by the administration of Centro Studi. Competitors who will not have answered roll-call on Saturday 5 October will be automatically rejected.
Article 9 – Final Concert
9.1 – The program for the winner’s final concert will include:
– the unabridged performance of Lulier’s cantata, of which a reproduction from the original manuscript will be made available to finalists and for internal use only at the beginning of September;[2]
– pieces chosen by the jury among those presented by the winner during the two competition trials.
The program of the final concert will be established by the jury by the end of Saturday, after the winner has been announced.
Article 10 – Due to circumstances beyond the organizers’ control, in case of proven necessity, or if the minimum number of 10 submissions is not reached, the organizers reserve the right to cancel the competition, in which case submission fees will be returned.
Article 11 – The organizers decline all responsibility for damage to persons or things occurred during the course of the competition.
Article 12 – Competitors and accompanying harpsichordists will not be able to lay claim to any audio and/or video recordings shot during the competition trials.
Article 13 – Finalists’ accommodation and meal expenses will be covered by Centro Studi Santa Giacinta Marescotti; travel expenses and finalists’ guests’ expenses will not be covered. Finalists’ guests will be offered a discounted accommodation package by the competition organizers.
Article 14 – As per article 10 of Italian law n. 675/96 regarding “personal data protection”, competitors are hereby informed that the data submitted at the time of registration are solely used for the purposes of this competition, with any other use being excluded.
Article 15 – Registration to the competition implies unreserved acceptance of these Conditions.
MUSICOLOGY SECTION
Article 1 – Participants
1.1 – All Italian and foreign citizens may apply with no age limit.
1.2 – The competitors must be students or scholars in the fields of musicology and/or history of music.
1.3 – The following categories of people may not apply:
– persons who have had didactic or professional relationships with at least one judge in the past 2 years;
– groups of two or more persons.
1.4 – Participation in other sections of the “Principe Francesco Maria Ruspoli” International Competition is not grounds for exclusion.
1.5 – Participation in previous editions of this Competition is not grounds for exclusion.
Article 2 – Judges
2.1 – Centro Studi Santa Giacinta Marescotti relies on a scientific board consisting of acknowledged experts in the fields of music and musicology, and participating in institutions and/or musical and cultural associations .
Members of the scientific board:
Prof. Giorgio Monari, Università la Sapienza and Pontificia Università Gregoriana, Rome
Prof. Dinko Fabris, Conservatory “N. Piccinni”, Bari, and Università della Basilicata, Potenza
Prof. Manuel Carlos De Brito, Universidade Nova, Lisbon (Portugal)
Article 3 – Judges’ decisions
3.1 – Judges make decisions by absolute majority. Decisions are final and may not be appealed.
3.2 – In order to improve transparency of judges’ decisions, works are submitted anonymously to them. The administration of Centro Studi binds itself to seal the identities of authors within a closed envelope that will be opened only after the verdict is received.
3.3 – The jury, after carefully evaluating the competing essays, will choose only one that proves particularly deserving according to the criteria of scientific and cultural relevance, originality and literary qualities. The jury may nominate other essays worthy of printing, only if any exist. Results will be published starting from 16 September, 2013, on the website of Centro Studi (www.centrostudisgm.it) in the section dedicated to the competition. The winner will be notified by the administration of the competition and will attend the prize ceremony at Castello Ruspoli on Sunday 6 October, 2013.
Article 4 – How to participate
4.1 – Applications must be filled out using the form which can be downloaded from the 2013 edition page of the website of Centro Studi (www.centrostudisgm.it). All applications must be submitted by the deadline of July 31, 2013; late applications will not be considered.
In order to complete application procedure, the following documentation must be enclosed:
(Incomplete applications will not be processed)
1) Typewritten historical-musicological essay (handwritten essays will not be considered), in 3 copies as well as on CD
2) Detailed CV
3) Copy of valid ID
4) 2 photos in digital format (JPG, GIF, or similar) which will be used by the administrative office for the purpose of competition-related press or promotion
5) Fee of €50.00 via bank transfer to the account of “Associazione Centro Studi e Ricerche Santa Giacinta Marescotti”, at the bank: Cassa di Risparmio di Orvieto, filiale di Vignanello (VT), IBAN: IT71 E062 2073 3600 0000 1100 859 – BIC: BPBAITR1, description of payment: “Musicology Section”. This fee will not be refunded if applicants fail to participate in the competition
4.2 – All documents must be emailed to the address: centrostudisgm@gmail.com in Word and PDF format and to the address: Via della Vittoria, 33 – 01039 Vignanello (VT)
4.3 – Competitors must adhere to the following criteria:
a) historical-musicological essays must not be shorter than 20 pages nor longer than 120 pages, in A4 format, double line spacing, font size: 12 (footnotes: 10), 30 lines per page;
b) historical-musicological essays may regard any particular aspect, author, composition, or other subject pertaining to “Europan music in the 16th and 17th centuries: Patronage, production and reception”;
c) each competitor may present one or more works, for a fee of € 20,00 for each work after the first;
d) essays must be original and must not have been previously published or presented at any other similar contest (dissertations may be submitted provided that they were not defended before the academic year 2010-2011);
e) essays must be written in one of the following languages: Italian, English, French, Spanish, German or Portuguese;
f) all materials will be retained by the library of Centro Studi e Ricerche Santa Giacinta Marescotti.
Article 5 – Prize
5.1 – The competition offers the winner and any other authors that may be nominated by the jury the publication of their essays in a special volume published by Centro Studi, as well as five free copies of the volume. Authors will be summoned on 6 October, 2013, in the occasion of the prize ceremony.
5.2 – Centro Studi awards € 500,00 only to the winner.
Article 6 – Due to circumstances beyond the organizers’ control, in case of proven necessity, or if the minimum number of 3 submissions is not reached, the organizers reserve the right to cancel the competition, in which case submission fees will be returned.
Article 7 – The organizers decline all responsibility for damage to persons or things occurred during the course of the competition.
Article 8 – Competitors will not be able to lay claim to any audio and/or video recordings shot during the prize ceremony.
All competitors will be invited to sign a document authorizing the use of texts and pictures, that will become visible on the website of Centro Studi in the section dedicated to the competition.
Article 9 – Finalists’ accommodation and meal expenses will be covered by Centro Studi Santa Giacinta Marescotti; travel expenses and finalists’ guests’ expenses will not be covered. Finalists’ guests will be offered a discounted accommodation package by the competition organizers.
Article 10 – As per article 10 of Italian law n. 675/96 regarding “personal data protection”, competitors are hereby informed that the data submitted at the time of registration are solely used for the purposes of this competition, with any other use being excluded.
Article 11 – Registration to the competition implies unreserved acceptance of these Conditions.
[1] The chamber cantatas of Lulier, a composer and violoncellist close to Corelli in Rome of Ottoboni and Pamphilj families, have been finally studied collectively and catalogued in the broad essay by Chiara Pelliccia, winner of the musicological section of Premio Ruspoli 2011, which was published in Miscellanea Ruspoli II, Studi sulla musica dell’età barocca, LIM, Lucca 2012.
[2] See art. 4.2.2 with note.