Statute

The Concertino Praga Statute

The Antonín Dvořák International Radio Competition for Young Musicians
Effective as of 31.05.2024

Article 1: The subject of the Statute
1. This Statute regulates the name and registered office, the person of the co-organisers, the place of operation, the basic purpose of the activities, the mission, the organisational structure and the rights and responsibilities of the participants in the Concertino Praga international radio festival also known as “the Antonín Dvořák International Radio Competition for Young Musicians” (hereafter simply referred to as the “Concertino Praga competition”).

2. This Statute is binding for all the constituent parts of Czech Radio (hereafter simply referred to as “CRa”) and the Academy of Classical Music (hereafter simply referred to as the “ACM”) and all of the participants in the competition.

Article 2: The mission of Concertino Praga
1. The international multidisciplinary radio competition for young musicians was established in 1966 at the initiative of the editorial team for children and young people’s music broadcasting at Czechoslovak Radio.

2. The competition’s mission is to search for young exceptional talents from national music schools, to present the best of them to experts and to the public and to showcase their abilities for listeners and viewers in radio, television and internet broadcasts and during live competition and concert performances.

3. The competition promotes Czech music on an international scale by means of the competition repertoire’s dramaturgy, public concerts and radio programs.

4. The co-organisers hope that their support for the further personal and professional development of the competition’s laureates will ensure that the young musicians’ positive experience of participating in this competition extends far beyond the period in which the competition is held.

Article 3: The registered office and organisation of the Concertino Praga
1. The registered office of the Concertino Praga is located at Czech Radio, Vinohradská 12, 120 99 Prague 2 – Vinohrady.

2. The competition is organised annually by Czech Radio (hereinafter referred to as "CRa") and the Academy of Classical Music (hereinafter referred to as "ACM"), together referred to as "the organisers", as of 1 April 2019, with effect for the 2020 competition year. The actual organisation of the competition is undertaken by the Ensemble, Competition and Festival Section at Czech Radio in cooperation with the ACM (hereafter simply referred to as the “competition organiser”).

3. The relations between the co-organisers are regulated by the Organisers’ Contract concluded between Czech Radio and the Academy of Classical Music.

4. The competition directorate is the Concertino Praga competition’s supreme body. The competition directorate consists of one representative of the CRa and one representative of the ACM.

5. The representative of the CRa is appointed by the Director General of the CRa. The representative of the ACM is appointed by the Director of the ACM.

6. The competition is usually announced by the organiser at the latest by 15 June of the calendar year preceding the year in which the competition’s final round takes place. The organisers will issue the Competition Rules as supplementary instructions for the realisation of the given year of the competition and send them to their partners abroad and in the Czech Republic, as well publishing them on the competition’s website.

7. The Concertino Praga competition is a member of the European Union of Music Competitions for Youth (EMCY) based in Munich.

8. The competition has the following alternate titles in foreign languages:
a) the Antonín Dvořák International Radio Competition for Young Musicians,
b) Antonín Dvořák Internationaler Rundfunkwettbewerb junger Musiker,
c) Antonín Dvořák Concours radiophonique international des jeunes musiciens,
d) Meždunarodnyj radiokonkurs junych muzykantov imeni Antonina Dvoržaka.

9. The Concertino Praga competition includes the Concertino Praga South Bohemian Festival, which is held directly after the competition.

Article 4: The structure of the competition
1. The competition is held as a multidisciplinary competition each year in one or more solo categories, whereby the competition performances are jointly assessed regardless of the musical instrument used for the performance.

2. The individual competition categories, the instruments that apply to them and the appropriate age limits for each specific instrument category are stated in the Competition Conditions.

3. The competition takes place in two evaluative phases:
- the evaluation of the competition recordings by the expert jury
- the live concert performance of the competition pieces before an audience and the competition jury
The specifications for each individual competition phase are stated in the Competition Conditions.

4. The Concertino Praga competition directorate reserves the right to change the competition categories. The list of musical instruments may be modified upon the basis of a recommendation from the competition juries or the artistic and teaching public. The list of the competing musical instruments is stipulated for each year of the competition and, if said list should deviate from the Statute, will not require the Statute to be changed.

5. Young performers register for the competition using audio recordings of the competition pieces, which have been created without any subsequent edits to the performances (i.e. “uncut”).

6. The Concertino Praga competition only accepts professional recordings that have been made in a single take. The technical specifications for the recordings will be stated in the Competition Conditions, while considering their purpose, i.e. their evaluation in the competition and use in radio broadcasts.

7. The main prizes for the finalists are published in the Competition Conditions every year. The competition juries may award financial and non-financial prizes for remarkable interpretative performances or other prizes from music institutions. The complete list of the prizes will be issued in a special document that will be accessible on the competition website and may be expanded during the course of the preparation for the given year of the competition, including after the announcement of the competition conditions for the given competition year.

8. The submission of an entry for participation in the Concertino Praga competition also constitutes a declaration as to the fact that the competitor (if the competitor has created their own competition recording) or the applying organisation and the competitor (if the applying organisation has created the competition recording) will comply with this Statute and the Competition Conditions.

9. The competitor or the applying organisation will send the competition recording for the entered competition categories to the organiser within the deadline set out in the Competition Conditions. The costs associated with the creation of each competition recording sent into the competition will be borne by the competitor, if they create their own recording, or by the applying organisation that made it. At the same time, the recordings must also comply with all the requirements of the competition entry – see the Competition Conditions.

10. The competitors’ performances will be evaluated by an expert jury appointed by the competition directorate. The specification of the juries, their composition and any other conditions pertaining to them are stipulated in the Competition Conditions. The composition of the juries will be regularly published on the competition website.

11. The jury will evaluate the competition audio recordings anonymously using only serial numbers as identification.

12. The jury and the public will be informed of the names, ages, nationalities and musical educational institutions of the competing finalists and their understudies once a decision has been reached on those competitors who will proceed to the final round. The names of the competitors, who have failed to receive any awards, will not be revealed to the jury or the public.

13. The final round will take place in each of the given competition categories in the form of a live concert associated with a live radio broadcast by Czech Radio under the auspices of the Dvořák Prague international music festival. The final round in the solo category or categories will be accompanied by an orchestra.

14. The competitors in the final rounds will be evaluated by an international jury. The jury will decide on the laureates and award the individual prizes in each of the categories opened in the Competition Conditions for the given year immediately after the completion of all the participants’ final performances. The award ceremony will take place immediately after the jury has reached its decision and the prizes will be presented on stage at the final.

15. The awards for all the laureates and the winners of special mentions include a stay in the Czech Republic at the expense of the organiser in association with their performances at the Concertino Praga South Bohemian Festival. These performances by the laureates constitute an integral part of their competition participation and will be unremunerated. At the same time, these performances are also binding for the prize winners in the final rounds. If the competitors are aware of any complete or partial inability to participate at the Concertino Praga South Bohemian Festival, they are obliged to inform the Competition Directorate of this without any undue delay. Failure to comply with this condition will constitute grounds for withholding or retracting any financial prizes.

16. The CRa will offer the concerts for live or delayed broadcast either via the EBU or any other radio organisations. Czech Radio will send the performers copies of the audio recordings of their performances at the competition and the South Bohemian festival upon request.

Article 5: The special provisions
1. Competitors who have previously received 1st – 3rd prizes in a given category may not enter the competition again.

2. The organiser will cover the following costs for the competitors and the jury members in association with the holding of the Concertino Praga competition:
a) the travel and accommodation costs and the payment of the jury members.
b) the travel costs, accommodation and board of the invited finalists, understudies and their essential escorts (this always means one accompanying individual) in Prague. Further escorts are permitted, but the competitor or given escort will bear any associated costs.
c) the travel costs, accommodation and board of the invited finalists and understudies at the South Bohemian festival. A Czech Radio employee will be responsible for all the participants throughout the period of the South Bohemian festival. Further escorts are permitted, but the competitor or given escort will bear all the associated costs.
d) the costs associated with the holding of the 2nd round in Prague and the South Bohemian festival;
e) the membership fee to the EMCY in association with the competition’s membership in this organisation, the amount of which is set by the annual general meeting of the EMCY;
f) the costs associated with the creation of the audio recordings from the 2nd round and the concerts at the South Bohemian festival.

3. The competition organisers are responsible for the organisation and finances of the competition.

Article 6: The closing provisions
This Statute replaces the Concertino Praga Statute of 31.05.2023

Mgr. René Zavoral
the Director General of Czech Radio
Mgr. Jan Simon
The Intendant of the Academy of Classical Music