GENERAL RULES FOR HARP

SPONSOR ELIGIBILITY

1. Every student must be sponsored annually by an individual teacher. Music schools may not be sponsors. The sponsoring teacher must either
1. be a paid-up member of THE SCHUBERT CLUB of FAIRFIELD COUNTY, INC. as of the deadline for Festival applications, or
2. submit a sponsoring teacher fee of $65 for less than 10 student applications on the Teacher Registration Form.
3. submit a sponsoring teacher fee of $75 for 10 or more student applications on the Teacher Registration Form.
2. The YMF is a non-profit, volunteer enterprise that relies on the active participation of all teachers involved.

STUDENT ELIGIBILITY

1. Entrants must be under 19 years of age as of March 1st of the Festival year.
2. Entrants may participate up to and including the senior year of high school.
3. Pre-Primary Guidelines: Juniors should be no more than eight years of age and have studied no more than one year.

MEMORIZATION

Memory is strongly suggested by not required.

1. Published scores of the required and choice pieces (not photocopies) must be provided for the judges. Permission must be sought from the publisher for music that is out of print, not just unavailable or temporarily out of stock.
2. Required pieces MUST be chosen from the current YMF Syllabus published by the Festival Committee and available from the Festival Registrar. Separate Syllabi are available for instruments other than piano and for voice.
3. Entrants in all solo events must perform two pieces: one from the Syllabus of Required Pieces and one choice piece that represents a comparable level of difficulty. The choice piece should not be a required piece. (See below for Special Rules concerning the various piano events).
4. Entrants in the concerto event are not required to play a choice piece. Only one movement of one concerto from the Syllabus of Required Pieces should be played.
5. Entrants in all ensemble events must play a choice composition in addition to the required piece. The choice piece may be selected from the same collection or be composed by the same composer as the required piece. (Exception: Entrants in the Piano Quartet event are required to play only one piece from the Required Pieces Syllabus.
6. Popular music is not allowed.
   

1. Teachers are asked to observe the following guidelines for time limits (combined required and choice compositions). If pieces are likely to exceed these limits (perhaps the required piece or concerto is a long one), please attach a note to the application for the Registrar.

Moderately Difficult - Difficult	8 minutes
Very Difficult - Musically Advanced	10 minutes
Concerti	15 minutes

2. Repeats should generally be omitted.

In unavoidable circumstances a teacher or other student may substitute for an ensemble player (with no score being awarded to that player).

Video taping will be allowed during Festival performances. Parents will be guided by the Room Monitors to set up equipment in advance of the class performances and to operate cameras from the back of the room to keep disruption at a minimum.

• A new required piece at the old level works best for that student.
• The highest level class in an event may be entered repeatedly with a different required and choice piece
• Concerto entrants may stay in the same category (see Special Rules for the Piano Concerto Event below).

Note that this rule also varies by festival.

1. Each performance will receive a rating from the presiding judges: Gold (5 points), Blue (4 points) , Red (3 points), Green (2 points) or Yellow (1 point). A large certificate of the appropriate color will be issued to each Festival participant for each event entered. The number of consecutive Gold ratings earned will be noted on the Gold certificates. Points will be accumulated for each Instrument-Event. When 15 points have been earned the first Gold Cup will be awarded, pending points going toward a second cup, etc.
2. Points in Senior Concerto classes are awarded on a different scale: Gold (8 points); Blue (7 points); Red (5 points), Green (3 points) or Yellow (1 point). A Gold Cup is awarded each time 15 points are accumulated. Second, third and fourth Gold Cups are successively larger.
3. In ensemble events, points are awarded separately to each performer.

All points counted toward a Gold Cup must be earned in the same event, with one exception. High school seniors may aggregate points across performance events on a given instrument (i.e. Piano Solo, Piano Concerto and Piano Duet) and with composition

Harps will be provided. All students will use the instruments that are provided.

Harps will be provided. All students will use the instruments that are provided.Students may play one movement of any standard concerto with or without accompaniment. No additional music is required. Points accrue as a separate event, unless the entrant is a senior, in which case they can be added to the total of the regular event.