The 2007 – 2008 Prelude Awards
Submission Guidelines

Overview Schedule Entry Forms Submission Guildlines: Collaboration Creative Writing Dance Instumental Music Theater Video and Film Visual Arts Vocal Music

Instrumental Music

General Requirements
The time limit for each contestant’s performance is six minutes. Contestants may perform one piece that shows contrast, technical and lyrical skills or they may perform two separate pieces. Contestants are permitted to make appropriate musical cuts in order to meet the time limit. The same piece must be performed in the final round of the competition.

NOTE: At the end of six minutes there will be a 15-second grace period, after which the contestant will be stopped. Performances exceeding the 15-second grace period will result in disqualification. Contestants are responsible for providing the judges with three transcripts of the music being performed, with the measures numbered, on the day of the first round of judging. Three transcripts must be provided for the judges on the day of the final round of judging. A piano will be available but contestants must provide their own accompanists.

Criteria
Performances will be judged on overall excellence as demonstrated in the following areas:

Mechanical Skills:
Wind and Strings — articulation, tone production, bowing techniques
Piano — articulation, command of touches, pedaling, fingering
Percussion — technique, physical approach, playing area.

Note Accuracy and Intonation Rhythmic Accuracy Interpretation:
appropriate style, ornaments, tempo, choice of mallets, balance of melody and accompaniment

Dynamics:
appropriate range of dynamic contrast

Musicianship:
expression, phrasing, emotional involvement

Stage Presence:
appearance, poise, posture, concert decorum, selection of music (to include suitable cuts)

Judging
The preliminary round of judging will be Saturday, Jan. 5, 2008, at Butler University, Jordan College of Fine Arts. In the event that you are selected as one of the finalists, the final round of judging will be held Saturday, Jan. 26, 2008, at The Children’s Museum. More specific information, including your performance time, will be sent to you upon receipt of your application.
The panel of instrumental music judges will be chosen from a list of working artists, critics, university professors and arts administrators from Indiana and surrounding states. In several instances, former Prelude Awards participants have served as judges in their fields.

Judges assess each contestant based solely on his/her performance, using the criteria on this sheet. The preliminary judging will be blind: contestants will be identified only by number, rather than by name. Judges will not know what school they are from and will not have biographical information. They will be instructed not to ask contestants to talk about themselves or their performances.

It is rare for one contestant to perform at a level so far above all the other competitors that he/she is a clear winner and every judge’s first choice. It is more common for the judges to identify several contestants with comparable skills. When this happens, the judges’ personal philosophies and preferences, as well as group dynamics, are bound to come into play in the process of selecting a winner. For instance, if three equally talented instrumentalists enter three separate competitions, each with a separate set of judges, it is unlikely that the same instrumentalist will be judged the winner every time. It is extremely important for contestants to understand and accept that this element of subjectivity in the judging process is natural and inevitable.

Winning the Prelude Awards does not guarantee a successful career in the arts; nor does losing the competition mean that a successful career in the arts is out of the question. Successful working artists agree that self-discipline, hard work, determination, and one’s ability to deal positively with criticism are the best indicators for success in the arts. Many brilliant high school performers have gone on to lead very traditional lives. Many people whose talents went completely unrecognized in high school have gone on to have brilliant careers in the arts.

This year’s Prelude Awards will provide just one of many occasions in which a young artist’s creative efforts will be judged. A realistic picture of how a competition works and a healthy attitude about winning and losing will help keep stress to a minimum and allow contestants to keep the competition in good perspective so that it can be a useful learning experience.

Media Partner:

For additional information on the Prelude Awards at The Children’s Museum contact Ruby Ellison, Community Programs Coordinator at (317) 334-4119.