PIF 2020 RULES

(last update August 17th 2020)

45th International “Città di Castelfidardo” Accordion Prize for Soloists, Ensemble & Composers

16 – 20 SEPTEMBER 2020

The City Council Administration of Castelfidardo (Italy) announces the International “Città di Castelfidardo” Accordion Prize dedicated to soloists and ensemble from the 16th to 20th September 2020.

The COVID-19 pandemic, still ongoing worldwide, does not allow to foresee what will happen in the upcoming months. Each country applies different restrictions that make all decisions approximate. In order to guarantee regularity and equality of conditions among the candidates, there will be a SPECIAL EDITION in two phases: SELECTIONS (with online videos) and FINAL (in live streaming or through a live audition in Castelfidardo).

The categories will be the following ones:

• category Classical PREMIO
• category Classical Composition (already done)
• category Virtuoso Senior
• category World Ensemble/Soloist
• category Jazz Ensemble/Soloist
• category Tango Astor Piazzolla Award
• category Electronic Gervasio Marcosignori Award
• category All Genres Young

PRELIMINARY PHASE

Due to the exceptional conditions, it is necessary to restrict the number of applications. There will be a preliminary SELECTION that – after the international jury attentive evaluation – is going to decree the entrants admitted to the final performance. ALL THE CONCURRENTS who want to take part will have to record a video with the following features:

• Length max 10 minutes (the cat. YOUNG max 5 minutes).
• The candidate will perform a free programme composed by several pieces of different character (reductions of original music scores are admitted). Only one piece for the cat. YOUNG.
• The proposed repertoire can be repeated in the final exhibition.
• The candidate will provide, in the application form, the LINK of the VIDEO. The resposibility for the forwarded material copyright is upon the candidate.
• The videos have to be made recording the full figure of the musician, and the repertoire and recording date must appear in the video, or as its comment. Songs from different recordings can be combined in the video. Depending on the musical genre, the videos may not fully comply with these characteristics – being a preliminary phase – it will be the president of the jury to evaluate that the performance requirements are adequate for the final phase.
• Only videos recorded from January 1st 2020 will be accepted. If the organization ascertain a violation, the candidate will be excluded.
• The quote for the preliminary selection is of €10,00 (EURO) for all categories.
• The expiring date for the applications is fixed for August 31th 2020 for all categories.

As for the cat. YOUNG there will be no finals, instead, an online vote will be expressed: there will be a page where the videos can be watched and where visitors can vote. Please remember that the programme has to be kept within the 5 minutes limit and that it must be made of 1 piece only or 1 medley made of several connected melodies.

FINAL PHASE

In the first week of September the names and related scores of the candidates selected for the final phase will be published. In order to guarantee that all candidates have equal audio quality, the final exhibitions must have the following features:

• The candidate (or the ensemble responsible) will declare orally before the exhibiton: his/her name (or the ensemble’s name), the city of the seat where they are broadcasting from, the exact hour of the execution, the programme that will be performed.
• As a warranty of the performance certainty – if the streaming does not grant a proper live broadcast – the candidate must provide, as soon as possible, a good quality video recording of the very same performance (also a recording from a good mobile phone will be accepted). If the candidate does not send this second check video and the live streaming has not enough quality, they can be excluded from the final list.
• The selected SOLOISTS will be able to perform directly at the Teatro Astra in Castelfidardo, after making the due arrangements with the event organization. The ENSEMBLES cannot have this opportunity for logistic reasons. In both cases the jury will listen to all the candidates in live streaming and in a second listening through the previously forwarded video.
• The jury will cast one single vote valid for both the live streaming performance and the received video.
• 10 CANDIDATES will be admitted to the FINALS, for the following categories:
  Premio, Virtuoso, World, Astor Piazzolla Award (Tango).
• 5 CANDIDATES will be admitted to the finals, for the following categories:
  Jazz and Gervasio Marcosignori Award (Electronic).
• The quote for those who are admitted to the finals is fixed at €20,00 (EURO) (in addition to the €10,00 that were already paid) for all categories.

As soon as the juries will have expressed their preferences, the organization is going to contact the selected candidates to arrange technical rehearsals for the live streaming. If the candidate cannot guarantee a suitable technical quality, this one can be eliminated in favour of the following on the rank.

The auditions programme is the following:

“CLASSICAL ACCORDION” Section

This section is characterised by the adherence to the “interpretations” of the proposed repertoire

CLASSICAL CATEGORY “PREMIO”
Soloists without age limit (2 rounds)
First round
Freely chosen programme including at least one composition from the Baroque era and with an overall duration of 30 minutes. The programmes should show, as much as possible, the variety of the original repertoire for accordion, drawing from the repertoires af the various national schools; at the same time they should include pieces that are different in character, epoque, taste and style. A maximum of 3 concurrents will be admitted to the second round.
Second round
The 3 admitted concurrents will have to perform with the Orchestra the mandatory piece, winner of the composition contest.

Soloist accordion part
Piece with accordion
Piece without accordion

1st prize winner
• Artistic trophy
• Scolarship of € 3.000,00 (pre-tax)

2nd prize winner
• Artistic trophy
• Scolarship of € 1000,00 (pre-tax)

3rd prize winner
• Artistic trophy
• Scolarship of € 500,00 (pre-tax)

Special awards
• Scholarship: € 500.00 partner “Accordions Worldwide” (www.accordions.com) in advertising/site, to the first prize winner
• Scholarship: € 500.00 partner Luma-Suite, purchase vouchers for their products, to the first prize winner
• Concert to the winner: San Vincenzo La Costa (Italy) partner “International Accordion Festival” (mus. dir Pietro Pardino) with hospitality and refund of € 500.00 (gross).
• Concert: Ascoli Piceno (Italy) partner International Music Festival Ascolipicenofestival to the Italian competitor chosen by the jury (art dir Emanuela Antolini). Hospitality and refund of € 300.00 (gross)

CLASSICAL CATEGORY “COMPOSITION”
NO AGE LIMIT (Only round)
In order to encourage the creation of new repertoires, composers are invited to write a work for ACCORDION & ENSEMBLE, freely inspired by the theme of the festival: “All the Colors of the World”.

Orchestration:
1 Accordion
1 Piano (Electric Keyboard optional)
1 Double Bass
1 Percussion I (chosen by the composer)
1 Percussion II (chosen by the composer)
1 Flute (optional Piccolo)
1 Oboe
1 B♭ clarinet (optional any type of Sax)
1 F Horn
1 Bassoon

• The composition must have never been publicly performed, under penalty of exclusion from the contest.
• The composer should keep in mind that the winning piece will be executed by the candidates who are admitted to the SECOND ROUND of the PREMIO classical category (2020).
• The duration must be from a minimum of 5 minutes to a maximum of 8 minutes;
• The composition should include at least one “solo” part for accordion.
• Soloists will reahearse only once with the orchestra before the final exhibition.
• There are no application fees.

The composers are invited to send their composition to the site www.pifcastelfidardo.it by and not later than APRIL 30th 2020 in PDF format (full score WITHOUT THE AUTHOR’S NAME, and full score WITH THE AUTHOR’S NAME, the single parts will be requested later) and an MP3 audio demo performed live or by a music software. If the work had more than an author, the registration must be made by the name of the main composer, indicating all the other names in the score.

1st prize winner
• Artistic trophy
• Scolarship of € 1000,00 (pre-tax)
• The composition will become the mandatory piece for the third round of the “Premio” category

2nd prize winner
• Artistic trophy
• Scolarship of € 500,00 (pre-tax)

3rd prize winner
• Artistic trophy
• Scolarship of € 250,00 (pre-tax)

Special awards
• Obligatory piece of “Premio” Category 2nd round partner PIF 2020, to the first prize winner
• Ars Spoletium Music Editions professional recording and distribution for the catalog of an artistic project selected among the top three composers

“VIRTUOSO ACCORDION” Section

This section is characterised by the candidate’s virtuosity and versatility

VIRTUOSO “SENIOR” CATEGORY
SOLOISTS WITHOUT AGE LIMIT – Only round
Freely chosen programme for an overall duration of 10 minutes; varieté, jazz, blues, popular, southern American, repertoire is admitted, in published or unpublished arrangements.

1st prize winner
• Artistic trophy
• Scolarship of € 500,00 (pre-tax)

2nd prize winner
• Artistic trophy
• Scolarship of € 250,00 (pre-tax)

3rd prize winner
• Artistic trophy
• Scolarship of € 150,00 (pre-tax)

Special awards
• Scholarship: € 300.00 in memory of “Mario Moreschi” partner Pasco Italia Accordion, the first prize winner

“WORLD ACCORDION” Section

This section is characterised by the focus on the “popular origin of the repertoire” and by the adherence to the proposed style

WORLD CATEGORY
SOLOISTS WITHOUT AGE LIMIT or ENSEMBLES WITHOUT COMPONENTS LIMIT
Soloists and ensembles with at least one accordion or a diatonic accordion (of any model) can take part. The accordion can also be a garmon, a bandoneon or a digital accordion, and it must have the MAIN ROLE within the formation. Groups with more than one free reed instrument or with free reed instruments only (like those above) are also admitted. At least one piece of YOUR OWN HOMELAND must be included in the first or the second round. The organization suggests wearing traditional clothes from your homeland.
The concurrents will have to present a programme with a maximum duration of 15 minutes, including compositions or arrangements and creative reworkings drawn from world music, ethno jazz, ethnic, folk, traditional repertoires.

1st prize winner
• Artistic trophy
• Scholarship of € 1000,00 (pre-tax)

2nd prize winner
. Artistic trophy
. Scolarship of € 500,00 (pre-tax)

3rd prize winner
. Artistic trophy
. Scolarship of € 250,00 (pre-tax)

Special awards
• Scholarship: € 200.00 “Dino Baffetti” partner Baffetti Accordion, to the first prize winner
• A professional microphone system partner Master-Midi electronic systems (www.mastermidi.com), to the first prize winner

“JAZZ ACCORDION” Section

This section is characterised by the focus on the soloists’ “improvisation” skills

“JAZZ” CATEGORY
SOLOISTS WITHOUT AGE LIMIT or ENSEMBLES WITHOUT COMPONENTS LIMIT
SOLOISTS or GROUPS in which the accordion has a MAIN ROLE can participate. Formations with one or more free reed instruments are admitted. The use of acoustic, electric or diatonic accordions, bandoneon, harmonica and melodica is allowed. The jury – made of experts, critics and jazz musicians – will evaluate personal style, improvisational and instrumental skills and the artistic project as a whole. The concurrents will have to present a programme of their own free choice; the performance must last no more than 20 minutes.

1st prize winner
• Artistic trophy
• Scolarship of € 1.000,00 (pre-tax)

2nd prize winner
• Artistic trophy
• Scolarship of € 500,00 (pre-tax)

3rd prize winner
• Artistic trophy
• Scolarship of € 250,00 (pre-tax)

Special awards
• Concert: Castelfidardo (Italy) partner “Jazz Accordion Festival” of Castelfidardo to the Italian competitor chosen by the jury (art dir Simone Zanchini), with hospitality and refund of € 500.00 (gross).

“ASTOR PIAZZOLLA Award” Section

This section is characterised by the focus on Maestro Astor Piazzolla’s compositions

“ASTOR PIAZZOLLA AWARD” CATEGORY
SOLOISTS WITHOUT AGE LIMIT or ENSEMBLES WITHOUT COMPONENTS LIMIT
UNIQUE category in which soloists or groups with at least one accordeon or bandoneon in the MAIN ROLE can take part. Formations with all reed instruments (such as accordion, bandoneon, melodica, diatonic accordion, harmonica, etc.) are also admitted. The programme must include exclusively compositions, or free arrangements, of the music of Maestro Astor Piazzolla’s, without exceeding the maximum length of 15 minutes.
The original scores are available on www.apagani.it

1st prize winner
• Artistic trophy
• Scolarship of € 1000,00 (pre-tax)

2nd prize winner
• Artistic trophy
• Scolarship of € 500,00 (pre-tax)

3rd prize winner
• Artistic trophy
• Scolarship of € 250,00 (pre-tax)

Special awards
• Scholarship: € 300.00 Aldo Pagani Award in collaboration with Pagani Music Editions. The prize will be awarded at the discretion of the jury.

“ELECTRONIC ACCORDION” Section

This section is characterised by the encounter of electronic music and accordion.

“GERVASIO MARCOSIGNORI AWARD” CATEGORY
SOLOISTS WITHOUT AGE LIMIT or ENSEMBLES WITHOUT COMPONENTS LIMIT
The category is open to Soloists or Groups with accordions (bass, free bass, diatonic, bandoneon), VIRTUAL (without acoustic voices), HYBRID (acoustic accordions with MIDI system) or ELECTRIC (acoustic accordions connected to digital multi-effects, looper, etc.). External modules, added audio sequences, as well as video projections are allowed (please contact the organization to agree on the technical matters). The jury will vote keeping in mind the proposal creativity, besides the performance. The candidates must present a freely chosen programme (all music genres allowed) not exceeding the maximum length of 10 minutes.

1st prize winner
• Artistic trophy
• Scolarship of € 300,00 (pre-tax)
• Special trophy from the artist “Renzo Romagnoli” in collaboration with Proloco Castelfidardo

2nd prize winner
• Artistic trophy
• Scolarship of € 200,00 (pre-tax)

3rd prize winner
• Artistic trophy
• Scolarship of € 100,00 (pre-tax)

Special awards
• Special Trophy designed by Renzo Romagnoli partner Pro Loco Castelfidardo
• Scholarship: € 300.00 in memory of “Gervasio Marcosignori” partner Bugari Armando Accordions, to the first prize winner

“YOUNG” Section

“YOUNG” CATEGORY
SOLOISTS or ENSEMBLES WITHOUT COMPONENTS LIMIT (only candidates up to 18 years of age are admitted)
UNIQUE category in which soloists or groups with at least one accordion, diatonic accordion or bandoneon in the MAIN ROLE can take part. Formations with all reed instruments (such as accordion, bandoneon, melodica, diatonic accordion, harmonica, etc.) are also admitted. It will be possible to perform ONLY 1 PIECE with a maximum duration of 5 minutes; all music genres are allowed. The candidates must record their own performance, upload it online, and communicate the Internet LINK in the purposedly provided application form.
The votes will be public and everyone will be able to vote in a webpage provided for the purpose.

PRIZE OF THE AUDIENCE
• An accordion from Castelfidardo.

CASTELFIDARDO CITY COUNCIL ADMINISTRATION’S PRIZE
•Scolarship of € 300,00 (pre-tax)

A.M.M.A. PRIZE TO THE YOUNGEST CANDIDATE
• Scolarship of € 200,00 (pre-tax)

ARTISTIC DIRECTION’S HONOURABLE MENTION
• Diplome of merit
• Artistic director’s CD

COMMON RULES FOR ALL CATEGORIES

1. The enrollment fee is of € 10,00 for SELECTIONS plus € 20,00 added for those admitted to the FINAL. The enrollment for the “Classical Composition” category is free.
2. Candidates can apply for more categories but cannot repeat the same programme in the various categories. In the “Jazz”, “Gervasio Marcosignori Award” and “Young” categories it is allowed to repeat pieces with different arrangements. The programme presented for the SELECTIONS can be repeated in the FINAL.
3. The deadline for enrollments is August 31th 2020 for ALL SELECTIONS (April 30th 2020 for the “Classical Composition” category) and must be done connecting to pifcastelfidardo.it . Those who will be admitted to the final rounds will be contacted for the payment of the second enrollment fee (see above).
4. Candidates will receive an email confirmation for the accepted registration.
5. Candidates can use instruments of any kind and brand.
6. The concurrents for the CLASSICAL MUSIC and ASTOR PIAZZOLLA Award categories are compelled, in the days before the finals, to forward PDF copies of the pieces in their programmes to the commission. The jury has the right to penalize those who will not forward such copies. At the end of the audition, the PDFs will be eliminated by the organization.
7. The concurrents in the NON CLASSICAL and NON TANGO categories are NOT compelled to present to the commission their programme repertoire in advance.
8. The jury President has the faculty to stop the audition of the concurrent who exceeds of ONE MINUTE the duration time set for each category. Pauses among the pieces will not be counted.
9. The jury will cast a vote from 10 to 20. The highest and the lowest evaluations will be eliminated. The votes expressed by each member of the jury will be published. For the PREMIO category, and for other categories with more than one round, the final rank will be compiled out of the sum of the points received in each round.
10. The order of the concurrents’ performances will be drawn for every single category (the subsequent rounds will have the order drawn inverted) and communicated to the candidates at least one day before the beginning of the auditions. The timetable with exhibitions times for each round will be available on our webpages.
11. Due to the PANDEMIC, and in order to guarantee an event free of health risks, the organisation allows LIVE STREAMING performances. Those who will be admitted to the final will be contacted in the days before the performances to do technical rehearsals. Please remember that the final performance can be either in LIVE STREAMING (Internet) from the candidate’s seat, or LIVE at the Teatro Astra in Castelfidardo (only for soloists).
12. All auditions will be public and broadcast live worldwide on the channels that the organization will purposedly provide.
13. The jury has the faculty not to give prizes, in case that no sufficient artistic requirements are found in the candidates.
14. The jury’s judgement is definite and inappellable.
15. All the concurrents will receive the “certificate of attendance”, which should be asked at the secretary office after the publication of the results.
16. The auditions or final concert radio, TV or streaming use will not imply any right of payment for the concurrents, nor any right to request the prduced contents.
17. For any detail about the receiving of the prizes and of the certificates please contact the Pro Loco Touristic Association (tel. +39 071 7822987 / +39 071 7823162 / info@prolococastelfidardo.it).
18. The organization of the contest will not be responsible for any kind of event that might occur to the concurrents during the festival.
19. The organization exclusively can modify or integrate the present rules.
20. The organization can anticipate the auditions, if the number of concurrents makes it necessary. The organization will inform the interested concurrents in good time.
21. Pursuant to art. 13, comma 1, of the Legislative Decree 30 giugno 2003, n. 196 “Codice in materia di dati personali” and following modifications and integrations, personal data provided by the candidates, video and audio appearances included, are registered and used only for the competition purposes.
22. The enrollment in this contest implies the unconditional acceptance of the present rules. For any controversy the Court of Ancona is responsible.