1. The dates of the International AV Choral Events 2025 are as follows:
June 28 – July 1, 2025: 28th International AV Choral Festival & 23th Competition “Antonio Vivaldi” in Karpenisi – GREECE.
June 20-21, 2025: 13th International AV Choral Festival & Competition in Gabrovo – BULGARIA.
2. The categories of the Choir Competition are as follows:
A. Mixed Choirs: Adult choirs consisted of at least 20 members
B. Male / Female Choirs: Male or female choirs consisted of at least 20 choir members
C. Children / Youth Choirs: Youth choirs consisted of at least 20 choir members of age up to 23 years old
D. Chamber Choirs: Chamber choirs consisted of up to 20 choir members
E. Sacred Music: Adult or youth choirs engaged with Sacred Music
F. Folk Category: Adult or youth choirs engaged with Folklore Music
G. Jazz and Modern Music: Adult or youth choirs engaged with Jazz or Modern Music
H. Byzantine Music: Adult or youth choirs engaged with Byzantine Music
3. The competition will be held in the presence of audience at a concert hall with a piano present. Choirs are allowed to use other musical instruments as soon as they bring them on the spot. The use of microphones or other sound systems is forbidden during the Competition event.
4. Choirs are allowed to compete in more than one category. Participation to the competition event requires a minimum participation fee (150 eu) that increases with the number of additional categories that each choir chooses to participate in (+50 eu per additional category).
5. Choirs competing in more than one category are not allowed to perform the same pieces of free choice among the different categories .
6. Each choir may freely choose its intonation.
7. The competitive performances will be judged by a jury noted for its international expertise (up to 4 jury members). The artistic director is always part of the jury committee.
8. The performance of each choir will be assessed according to the following criteria: a) intonation, b) textual interpretation, c) difficulty, d) rhythm, e) conductor’s skill, f) dynamics, and g) diction.
9. Choirs participating in categories A, B, C, and D may freely choose three pieces in accordance with the following criteria a) one piece between the 14th and the 19th century, b) one piece between the 19th and the 21th century, c) one folk song.
10. Choirs participating in categories E, F, and G, may freely choose three pieces closely related to Sacred Music, Folklore Music, and Jazz or Modern Music, respectively.
11. Choirs participating in category H will have to perform three Byzantine pieces of free hymns as long as they meet the following criteria: a) one Papadikon hymn, b) one Kekragarion hymn, and c) one modern Byzantine hymn composed after the 20th century.
12. The marking process is as follows: a) 87-100 points correspond to the 1st prize, b) 77-86 points correspond to the 2nd prize, and c) 67-76 points correspond to the 3rd prize. The artistic jury may also nominate some special awards to high quality choirs with an outstanding performance, e.g., Master Conductor, Best Folk Performance, and so on.
13. The 1st prize (>87 points) in each competition category comes with a money trophy of 300 euro. If more than two choirs receive the 1st prize, the money trophy goes to the choir with the highest points. Each competing choir receives a diploma for participating in the competition. For the 2024 AV Choral Events GREECE, the organizing committee provides the opportunity to choirs participating in the choir festival to win the Grand Trophy of the 2025 AV Choral Events GREECE of 1000 eu. This trophy is awarded to a choir with the most exceptional performance in the choir competition based on the artistic jury’s consensus to award this trophy each year or not, assuming a very high score in at least one category (>98).
14. All choirs participating in the choir events will be nominated their prizes/diplomas during the closing ceremony of the Choir Festival (typically the final day of the festival), in the presence of audience and local authorities. Upon their nomination, all awarded choirs will perform one piece of free choice.
15. Choirs interested in performing group works in the Festival event should declare it during the registration process. Competing choirs are committed to perform a 30 minutes program of free choice during the Main Concert of the Festival Event.
16. Participating choirs or orchestras will not have any economic benefits from potential CD recordings.
17. To participate in the Choir Competition “Antonio Vivaldi”, each choir should send by post and by email the following material:
i. Application form (filled and signed)
ii. Recent photo and brief history of the choir
iii. Recent photo and brief history of the choir’s conductor
iv. Three copies of the scores for every piece performed in the Competition Event
v. Bank receipt of the participation fee
The application forms for the International AV Choral Events 2025 can be downloaded from here:
Application form for AV Choral Events in GREECE 2025
Application form for AV Choral Events in BULGARIA 2025
This material should be sent to the organizing committee no later than 1 month before the main event. Post address: Erythrou Stavrou 6, PC 36100, Karpenisi-GREECE. Email address: av.choirfestival @ gmail.com
18. Each choir will use its own transportation means.
19. Aiming to preserve the quality of the accommodation/food services offered to the festival visitors, the organizing committee offers flexible accommodation packages to the choirs. Choirs participating either in the Choir Festival, or the Choir Competition “Antonio Vivaldi” are committed to choose the accommodation packages offered by the organizing committee.
20. With the submission of their application form, all choirs and their choir members explicitly consent to the processing and potential publication of all multimedia material produced by the organizing committee for the purposes of the AV Choral Events in GREECE, BULGARIA or ROMANIA.
21. All choir members and participants to the Competition and Festival events fully agree on the processing of their personal data by the organizing committee of the events, and potentially by others that are directly engaged to the organization of the event (Municipality, Prefecture, photographers, printing services of the programme, etc.).
22. All choir members and participants to the Competition and Festival events will fully comply with all necessary measures that are necessary and decided by the organizing committee to safeguard their safety and good health during the organization of events. The respective rules shall be in line with the current laws and situation of the Greek state.
