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 participants in categories 2 and 3 can be choirs or ensembles who do not take part in church services.

• 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 30 minutes. For the performances in category 2 the duration can be shorter.

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 5^th International Festival for Orthodox Music
“Theotokos - It is Truly Meet”, Pomorie 2008

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 3^rd of  March 2008  either  by  regular  post  or  by  e-mail. If sent  by  regular  post, the date on the envelopе should be 3^rd March at the latest. All documents can be sent on the Internet to our e-   mail, as well.

• The participants from Bulgaria also have to send a participation fee of 100 leva (per choir).no later tha30^th of April 2008.

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

• EURO (per choir) enclosed to the application form.

• This fee is non-refundable.

The participation fee must be 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: 444 000

           (beneficiary/recipient)
           For The 5^th 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 2008).

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.

Only breakfast – 4 lv. (2 euro) on a day for one person

Breakfast + dinner – 12 lv. (6 euro)

Breakfast +lunch+ dinner – 19 lv. (9,5 euro)

Breakfast +lunch – 11 lv. (5,5 euro)

payment for a night's lodging in rooms – 12 lv. (6 euro)– 3 stairs

in family hotel – 3 stairs – 15 lv. (7,5 euro)

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

             The travel costs to Pomorie in Bulgaria

c) The participation fee includes a free CD  with the performances of the choir in the festival program.

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 30 March 2008. 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.

7. Sponsor

   BANK NAME: CB INVESTBANK PLC, BRANCH Burgas

              IBAN: BG 38 IORT 73788417000900

           BIC : IORT BGSF

           Code for the type of payment (for country): 445 100

           Code for the type of payment (for abroad): 445 200