Rules

There will be an annual APAC Choral Festival that will be held on a rotational basis.

  1. Delegates
    There shall be a maximum of 16 students per school. Student accompanists are to be included in the quota of 16.
  2. Delegate Selection
    Recognizing that the event should be an SATB (Sopranos, Altos, Tenors and Basses) activity, each school is encouraged to bring a vocally and musically balanced ensemble.
  3. Mass Choir
    The balancing of the mass choir shall be the responsibility of the host school.
  4. Guest Conductor
    A guest conductor shall be engaged for each Choral Festival. This is seen as both advantageous to the students and professionally developmental to the individual school choir directors. It is also seen as beneficial to the festival to have a variety of guest conductors. School should be prepared to provide a stipend for their guest conductor (recommended amount: US$1500.00-separate and apart from individual schools’ decisions regarding per diem amounts or hosting expenses). (April 2012) Transportation, room and board are additional expenses.
  5. Festival Concert
    It was agreed that the Festival Concert should have two parts, with a total concert time of approximately one hour and 30 mins.

    • Part One: Each school will present two pieces under the direction of their own school choir director with a maximum of seven (7) minutes total allotted to each school. (April 2012) Host schools are not expected to provide individual school accompanists.
    • Part Two: The mass choir will perform up to six pieces, in a time frame of up to 40 minutes under the direction of the guest conductor. (March, 2010)
    • All schools will advise the host school of their intended individual school repertoire by September 15th – to avoid duplication of individual performance pieces. Cases of duplication would be outlined for the parties concerned, without obligation for schools to change initial selections. (March, 2010)
    • Host schools should provide final performance printed programs for both participants and audience. (Oct. 2012)
  6.  Suggested Schedule (As a Guideline)
  7. Solo Auditions
    • Schools may nominate a maximum of two soloists, per soli to audition for each APAC choir school solo opportunity. Guest conductor may hold auditions at their own discretion and schedule. (April 2014) The auditions will include pre-assigned scales and excerpts from the festival music. Guest conductors will audition soloists and make final decisions for those festivals where soloists are chosen. (Oct. 2012) All auditions will be blind (judges will not know the name nor school of the students and will not be able to see the student auditioning). (March 2010)
    • Schools may nominate a maximum of two (2) soloists to audition for each APAC Choir solo opportunity. (March 2009)
  8. Selection of Mass Choir Music
    • The guest conductor will make the final selection of music in conjunction with the host school. No more than 80% should be religious based.
    • It shall be the responsibility of each APAC School to purchase its own original score of the mass choir music.
    • The host school shall identify and communicate the mass choir music repertoire to the participating APAC schools by 1st The repertoire shall include titles, versions, composers, and suppliers of the mass choir music.
    • The guest conductor will provide teaching notes.
  9. Length of Festival
    The APAC Choir Festival will be a three-day event. (April 2014)
  10. Festival Awards
    •  Each school will receive:
      • Commemorative Plaque/Award.
    • Each individual participant will receive:
      • Certificate of Participation
      • Commemorative Patch
      • Group Photo
      • Festival T-shirtUpdated October 2012
  11.  Rooms
    It is recommended that, where possible, each school be provided with an assigned dressing/warm-up room.
  12. Communication
    Whenever there is communication between Fine and/or Performing Arts Directors regarding APAC related topics, all AD’s concerned must be cc’d. (March 2010)
  13. Inter-Event Communication
    In the interest of keeping communication lines open between APAC Divisional sites, all key issues raised by coaches or fine arts directors at one site should be shared with the Event Director at the other APAC site by lunch time of Day 2 so that those issues may be considered at the final coaches/directors meeting at both divisional sites.