The Rivers Awards Composition Competition 【RACC】 aims to promote extensive exchange between Chinese and Western music, encouraging innovative and explorative composition for Chinese and Western musical instruments, and building a high-end platform to introduce outstanding original musical works to the public.

Host: Shanghai Conservatory of Music（SHCM）

Organizer: The Composition and Conducting Department at Shanghai Conservatory of Music

Jury: The jury panel will consist of experts and professors from prestigious Chinese and international music institutions

1. A positive theme that embodies the spirit of the contemporary era is a basic requirement for the entries of this competition, which should be created with novel methods and rich in artistic appeal.

2. This competition is open to participants under the age of 40 (born after December 31st, 1984) regardless of their nationality, location and profession. Professional composers, teachers or students specializing in composition are all welcome. There is no participation fee required for the application.

3. The submission must be composed for a mixture of listed Chinese and Western musical instruments (totalling a number of three to nine performers). The ensemble must include at least one Chinese and one Western instrument selected from the following instruments:

One Dizi-bamboo flute (doubling Xiao), one Pipa, one Erhu, one piano, two violins, one viola, one cello, one double bass.

*It is important to note that pre-recorded music or electronic music compositions will not be accepted

4. The duration of the music should be 5-8 minutes and the duration should be marked clearly on the first page of the score.

5. The compositions submitted for this competition should be original works of music composed by the participant him/herself and may not have been officially published or awarded in other competitions. Each participant should provide a clear score of his/her composition anonymously. Explanations are necessary for special requirements on performing techniques. If any sign or mark made on the score that has no relation to the work itself is found, the participant will be disqualified immediately.

6. Required application materials (in electronic form and sent by e-mail) include:

i) One full score with clear performance instructions by the participant (PDF only)

ii) One filled-out participation form that is signed by the participant him/herself

iii) One recently taken headshot photograph of the participant (33mmX49mm)

iv) One copy of a valid ID (could be the National Identification Card or Passport) that contains a photograph and the exact date of birth of the participant

Please email all the electronic documents mentioned above to the Organizing Committee at racc@shcmusic.edu.cn before the deadline.

7. All the required materials must be submitted by e-mail before Saturday August 31st 2024, 5:00 p.m. Participants may contact the Organizing Committee if they have any questions or enquiries.

8. Participants who do not meet the above requirements will be disqualified. Members of the jury panel and the organizing committee are not allowed to take part in the competition. All materials submitted will be kept on file by the host and will not be returned.

Contact Information:

The Organizing Committee of the 13th Rivers Awards Composition Competition,

The Composition and Conducting Department, Shanghai Conservatory of Music

Address: Room 304, Teaching Building, No. 20 Fenyang Rd., Shanghai, China

Email: racc@shcmusic.edu.cn

Post Code: 200031

Tel: 008621-53307380

Fax: 008621-53307380

Website：https://www.riversawards.cn

Contact person: WANG Chen

1. To ensure fairness of the competition, all works will be numbered and sealed up before selection.

2. The competition will be divided into two stages. The preliminary round will be based on the submitted scores and ten finalists will be selected. The finals will take place in the form of a final live performance, where the award-winning compositions will be selected and announced. Due to the seriousness and authoritativeness of the competition, certain awards will be left vacant if no composition meets the grading criteria.

3. The awards for competition are categorized as follows:

Award Prize money (in USD, tax included)

One First Prize $ 10,000

Two Second Prizes $ 5,000

Three Third Prizes $ 1,500

Four Finalist Prize $ 500

1. The finalists should participate in the final live concert and the summit forum of Rivers Awards-Winning works. Travel expenses of the finalists shall be borne by themselves, and the accommodation in Shanghai during the competition shall be borne by the host.

2. Time and Venue of the Final Live Concert: At 7:30 p.m. on Friday, November 22nd, 2024, at the He Luting Concert Hall.

3. Compositions selected for the final round of the competition will be performed in collaboration with Ensemble L'Itinéraire and traditional Chinese music specialists.

1. Basic Information:

i) Time: November 23rd，2024

ii) Venue: TBA

iii) Participants: competition finalists, jury members, performers, teachers and students at the Department of Composition and Conducting, and other conferees

2. Summit Agenda:

i) Speeches by the representative of the organizer and the chairman of the jury panel

ii) Brief introduction of their works by prize winners (five minutes for each)

iii) Comments and discussions on prize-winning works by jury members

iv) Comments and discussions on prize-winning works by conductors and performers

v) Communication and idea-exchange among conferees, including the competition finalists, jury members, conductors, performers, teachers and students of the Composition and Conducting Department

vi) Closing speech by the representative from organizer, and the release of competition information for the 14th RACC in the following year

1. Relevant Rights:

i) The award winner holds the copyright of the winning composition.

ii) The award winner must agree to grant the following rights to the Host free of charge:

a) The organizer has the right to use the award-winning composition or any other forms of audio-visual products for non-commercial purpose.

b) The organizer has the right to premiere the award-winning composition and the priority to publish and perform the winning composition.

iii) Each award-winning composition, regardless of when and wherever it is performed, should include the following note: "*** prize-winning composition of the 13th Rivers Awards Composition Competition (2024)

For example:

"[Title] won the 3rd Prize at the 13th Rivers Award International Composition Competition, 2024

2. The decision of the result of the competition made by the jury panel is final.

3. There are two appendixes attached to this document, including a registration form (Annex I, which needs to be filled out and submitted) and an introduction of Chinese instruments and pitch range table (Annex II, for reference only).

The right of interpretation of the above provisions is vested in the Organizing Committee.