CTU 2017 Competition Day: Sat, 3 June 2017 (timing to be announced)
CTU 2017 Competition Registration Deadline: Sun, Apr 2, 2017
How to participate?
Participation is a 5 step process: 1) Update, 2) Record, 3) Register, 4) Modify and 5) Perform.
1.Update. Ensure that you provide CTU your updated contact information by clicking on Stay Informed so that you are kept informed about all the logistical details about the competition this year. This will be the only method employed for communication in addition to updates made on our our website.
2. Record. Record a demo entry in MP3 format.
3.Register. Complete the registration form and upload the demo entry before the CTU 2017 Competition Registration Deadline.
Updated 3 Apr 2016: The registration for the CTU 2017 Competition is now closed.
5.Perform. If your entry is selected, you will get to perform live on CTU 2017 Competition Day.
Participation Guidelines
- Students in K-12 school grade can participate. Adults cannot participate in this competition.
- Contestants can participate in one and only one level/category combination.
- All contestants must submit one and only one demo entry.
Categories: Vocal, Instrument, and Percussion.
There is no other grouping of contestants other than levels and categories. There is no separate grouping of categories by the age of the contestant.
Contestants may use any instrument for the Instrument and Percussion categories.
Levels for Vocal/Instrument Category
CTU has worked with professional musicians to determine a set of Kritis for various levels.
CTU 2017 Competition List of Kritis
There is no Level One.
Level Two
- Kriti only – Select 2 kritis from the CTU list for this level. Record the rendition of one of these Kritis and submit this entry as the demo entry. Specify the entry being submitted as the demo entry. Perform one of these entries in the Live Competition as directed by the judges. Judges may engage the contestants in interactive Q&A during the Live Competition.
Level Three
- Neraval and Kalpana Swaram only. Select 3 kritis from the CTU list for this level. Record the rendition of Neraval and Kalpana Swaram only for one of these Kritis and submit the recording as the demo entry. Render combinations of Neraval and Kalpana Swaram only in one or more of the three Kritis selected as directed by the judges in the Live Competition. Judges may engage the contestants in interactive Q&A during the Live Competition.
Level Four (Accompanied)
- The lead artist must be a vocal contestant.
- Students in K-12 school grade can participate. Adults cannot participate in this competition. These guidelines also apply for the accompanying participants in this level.
- For the Demo entries, Select 3 kritis from the CTU list for this level. Record the rendition of Neraval and Kalpana Swaram only for one of these Kritis and submit the recording as the demo entry.
- In the Live Competition, selected contestants would have to come prepared with their own team of two accompanying participants. There must be at least one accompanying participant playing the Mridangam. The other accompanying participant can be any instrument including Violin, Veena, Flute, Harmonium, Saxophone, Clarinet, Keyboard, Guitar or any other instrument of the team’s choice.
- A participant may accompany more than one contestant in this category. Subject to their availability, CTU can provide Mridangams to be used for providing accompaniment in this category. Rental charges do not apply.
- The focus in this level will be on the coordination between the participants that make up the team as well as the ability of each participant to highlight Manodharmam aspects including Alaapanai, Neraval, Kalpana Swaram in addition to variations of Rhythmic patterns.
Levels for Percussion Category
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- There is no Level One in this year’s Competition.
Level Two
- Select two Thaalams. Two nadais OR off-samam eduppu. Submit demo entry in one of these Thaalams. Perform Thani in the Thaalam specified by the judge in the Live Competition.
Level Three
- Select three Thaalams. Three nadais AND off-samam eduppu. Submit demo entry in one of these Thaalams. Perform Thani in the Thaalam specified by the judge in the Live Competition. Contestants will be engaged in interactive Q&A by judges including Konnakol.
Note: Only solo entries can be performed in Levels Two and Three. There are no accompaniments.
Demo Entry:
- CTU is not in a position to process any entries that do not conform to the guidelines below.
- Demos must be in MP3 format.
- Demo entries are required for all categories
- There is no payment required to submit a demo entry
- Demo entries must be submitted at the time of Registration before the CTU 2017 Competition Registration Deadline.
- Plain audio recording would be acceptable. CTU strongly encourages the contestants to ensure that the recording can be heard clearly without any background noise. Amplifiers may be used at the contestant’s discretion.
- The MP3 recording of the demo entry must contain the complete performance for the given Level on a single track. It must represent all the aspects specific to the Level for which it is being submitted. The demo entry recording must not contain any content other than the performance itself. Contestants are requested to ensure that they do not narrate any details about themselves or the performance within the demo entry.
- Even though there is no specific time limit for the duration of the demo entry, the size of the MP3 audio files should not exceed 20 Megabytes (MB). When recording these MP3 entries, we would recommend a sampling rate of 128 KBps at a frequency of 44 KHz.
- Updates to the registration information as well as the demo entry may be submitted. CTU will work with the latest registration and recording received before the CTU 2017 Competition Registration Deadline.
- Professional artists, with no ties to CTU, will be ranking the demo entries.
Note: If you encounter an error while uploading the demo entry, please follow the steps outlined in the response to Q.8 in the list of Frequently Asked Questions (see below).
Evaluation Criteria
Traditionally, the evaluation criteria used during CTU competitions include Sruthi Suddham, Laya Suddham, Bhavam, Diction, Instrument Handling, Kaalapramanam, Manodharmam and Overall Presentation. Each year, the judges work with CTU to refine the criteria on an as-needed basis.
Live Competition:
- Based on the ranking of the demo entries by judges, CTU will determine the contestants who perform at the live competition on CTU 2017 Competition Day.
- Subject to the timely communication of the demo entry results by the judges, CTU is planning on announcing the names of the contestants selected to perform in the Live Competition approximately three weeks before the CTU 2017 Competition Day.
- CTU will establish time limits, if necessary, and communicate them to the selected contestants after the number of qualifying contestants for the Live Competition has been determined.
- Professional artists, with no ties to CTU, will be judging the performances during the Live Competition.
- The questions posed to the Live Competition contestants are determined by the judges during the competition.
- The judges may request the contestant to stop at any time during the performance.
- Contestants are welcome to bring their own Sruthi box and/or Talometer. If they don’t bring one, they are welcome to use the one provided by CTU.
- CTU will not be providing the exact time of performance in advance. CTU requests all families to encourage all the young contestants by attending the entire Live Competition.
Entry fee for Live Competition:: $50 per contestant.
- Contestants selected to perform in the Live Competition are required to pay a fee of $50 per contestant prior to their performance in the Live Competition. Families of the contestants in the Live Competition are also required to pay applicable attendance charges for the day of the Music Competition.
- This payment is also applicable for accompanying participants in Level 4 (Accompanied). Each accompanying participant must pay their own entry fee for participation in the Live Music Competition. Note: Any cash prizes awarded to the winning team for Level 4 (Accompanied) will be equally distributed among the vocalist and the accompanying participants.
- Every contestant (including the accompanying participant) pays the entry fee only once for the whole competition.
Prizes:
Prizes are awarded to the winners of the live competition. These can include trophies, certificates, and cash prizes. Prize Distribution ceremony will be held during the event following the Competition on CTU 2017 Competition Day.
Sponsorship:
Chicago Tyagaraja Utsavam’s Annual Music Competition is sponsored in part by CTU well-wishers and the IL Arts Council, A State Agency. Please review the various sponsorship opportunities available and consider being an Event Sponsor for the 2017 Annual CTU Competition.
Questions: Please review the List of Frequently Asked Questions before sending questions to CtuComp {AT} ChicagoTyagarajaUtsavam.org.