CONDITIONS OF PARTICIPATION:

The Festival includes the following categories:

Category 1: Orthodox Church Choirs
This category refers to choirs who regularly take part in Orthodox Church services and whose members do not exceed 36 people.

Category 2: Byzantine chant
This category refers to church chanters and/or Priests as well as all kinds of chamber ensembles of maximum 24 singers.

Category 3: Choirs or vocal ensembles of mixed or equal voices
The choirs and ensembles in this category should not exceed 36 singers nor have less than 4 singers.

• The Bulgarian participants in categories 1 and 2 have to be church choirs, church chanters and/or Priests who take part in Church services in churches under the canonical jurisdiction of Patriarch Maxim.

• The participants in categories 2 and 3 can be choirs or ensembles who do not take part in church services. Also, they must all be amateurs with the exception of the conductors.

• Each choir or ensemble has the right to participate in different formations in different categories.

• All performances will be open for public and will take place in the church “The Holy Nativity of Virgin Mary”  in Pomorie.

Repertoire:

1. Program - it must consist exclusively of Orthodox chants for all categories.

2. Compulsory piece - one of the chants has to be “It is Truly Meet”.

3. Duration - the whole program of a choir or ensemble should not exceed 25 minutes.

4. Performances - all participants have to perform their program a cappella, in the original liturgical text, not in modern translation.

Seminars:

During the festival there will be seminars organized for all participants.

Concerts:

During the festival the members of the festival committee will assess the participants. The best choirs and ensembles will be given the opportunity to hold their own concerts with a repertoire of their own choice in Nessebar or Bourgas or participate in the Festive Liturgies served during the festival days.

1.Address

The whole correspondence  (application forms, questions, etc) has to be sent to the following address either by regular post or e-mail:

Cultural Center “Slavyanska Besseda”
The Fourth International Festival for Orthodox Music
“Theotokos - It is Truly Meet”, Pomorie 2007

127 G. S. Rakovski Street
1000 SOFIA
BULGARIA

fax: ++ 359 2 987 68 18

e-mail: orthodoxvoice@abv.bg

2.Participation Form

·         Each   choir   has   to   send   a   legible   and   correctly   filled  application    form   no   later  than

          31st of  March 2007  either  by  regular  post  or  by  e-mail. If sent  by  regular  post, the date on

          the envelopе should be 31st March at the latest.

·         The participants from Bulgaria also have to send a participation fee of 100 leva (per choir).

·         The   participants  who  are  not  from  Bulgaria  also  have  to  send  a  participation  fee  of  150

          EURO (per choir).

·         This fee is non-refundable.

The participation must sent by a bank transfer to the following bank account:

           BANK NAME: CB INVESTBANK PLC, BRANCH Burgas

              IBAN: BG 38 IORT 73788417000900

           BIC : IORT BGSF

           Code for the type of payment: 447 000

           (beneficiary/recipient)
           For The Fourth International Festival for Orthodox Music

Each choir has to enclose the following documents in addition to the application form:

• a short biography of the choir and the conductor

• a picture of the choir and the conductor

• a recent audio or video recording (not demanded for church chanters and priests)

• a copy of the scores of all chants included in the festival program of each choir or ensemble

• a list of all choir members including name, date of birth and sex.

3.Costs

a) There will be free accommodation provided for all performers (conductor, singers); the participants will be accommodated in private guest houses.

All other accompanying persons will have to cover their full expenses. If requested, the organizing committee can provide paid accommodation for the extra persons (exact prices will be determined in March 2007).

The  participants in the festival can be accommodated in hotels of higher quality, as well, but in this case  they  have to pay an extra charge for accommodation and inform the organizes of their wish in advice.

b) The travel costs from and to Pomorie are at the expense of the choirs.

c) The participation fee includes a free CD and DVD with the performances of the choir in the festival program and the performances of the other choirs from the same festival concert.

4. Selection

The members of the Festival Committee will make a selection of the choirs on the basis of the documents submitted. The choirs and ensembles will be informed of the committee’s decision not later than 23rd April 2007. The decision of the festival committee is final and is not liable to appeal.

5.Recordings

• The  organizers  possess  all  recording  and  distribution rights in Bulgaria and abroad over  the  performances made during the festival, and bear no responsibility to the participating choirs.

• Each choir can receive an audio or video recording of any performance against payment.

6.Excursions
During the festival will be organized paid one-day trips to interesting sights chosen by the participants.