麻豆社

Competition Terms & Conditions

Who May Enter

1. Entries are invited from all primary and post primary schools in Northern Ireland only. There will be two age categories:

• Primary Schools up to and including 11 years of age
• Post Primary Schools up to and including 18 years of age

2. The children’s ages are taken to be as on 1st September 2016.

3. The maximum number of choir members is 60. Teachers may not form part of the school choir.

4. No member of the choir can be a 麻豆社 staff member who is directly involved in, or indirectly responsible for, the series or 麻豆社 Radio Ulster or a close relative of such person. Proof of eligibility may be requested. All children in the choir must meet the eligibility requirements set out in the terms & conditions at all times. No choir director may be a 麻豆社 staff member or a close relative of such person.

How to Enter

5. Initial entry to School Choir of the Year will entail submission of a CD/DVD or MP3 recording of their choir singing two contrasting pieces of their choice. The pieces can be either accompanied or unaccompanied. The combined recordings must not exceed 8 minutes.

6. Hard copies of CDs/MP3s (two copies) should be sent clearly marked to:
麻豆社 Radio Ulster School Choir of the Year
Broadcasting House
Ormeau Avenue
Belfast
BT2 8HQ
Alternatively MP3s may also be emailed to: radioulsterschoolchoir@bbc.co.uk

7. If a school chooses to commission an arrangement for their entry pieces any cost incurred must be met by the school not the 麻豆社. The 麻豆社 will not cover any cost incurred in making any entry to the series.

8. One adult (eg Choir Director) must be nominated as the choir’s main contact. The 麻豆社 will only ever use personal details for the purposes of administration and in accordance with the 麻豆社 Privacy Policy http://www.bbc.com/privacy. The entry CD must be performed by the choir members intending to go forward into the later stages of the series. The named contact will be responsible for obtaining all permissions necessary from the school and parents of the children participating before entering the heats. Proof of relevant consents may be requested. CDs are not returnable so please remember to keep a copy.

9. Recordings of the choir must be of one take. Entries showing evidence of editing or digital enhancement such as layering and the use of auto-tuning will be disqualified. If a school chooses to use pre-recorded accompaniment this must be purely instrumental and not contain any vocals.

10. Recordings must be of the current school choir and not of choir members who have now left the school.

11. Entries are to be received by noon on Monday 19th December 2016 and those shortlisted will be notified in early January 2017.

Progression to the Recording Heats and Live Final

12. A panel of shortlisting judges, appointed by the 麻豆社 and the Ulster Youth Choir will listen carefully to the quality and style of the singing as demonstrated by the performances on CD. They will select 6 choirs (from each of the 6 county areas, namely Down, Antrim, Armagh, Fermanagh, Tyrone and Londonderry) for each of the 6 primary school heats and 6 choirs (from each of the 6 county areas) for each of the 6 post primary school heats.

The judges will be selecting schools using the following criteria: Intonation, tone quality, diction, ensemble, balance, blend, interpretation of music and text, dynamics, phrasing and communication.

The suitability of the chosen songs will also be taken into consideration by the judges. The panel will not be judging the technical quality of the recording although it would be beneficial for you to read the Sound Recording guidelines at the end of this document.

13. There will be two semi-finals - one for primary school and another for post primary school choirs who win the heats. The winning 6 choirs from both semi-finals will go through to the final at the Ulster Hall, broadcast live on 麻豆社 Radio Ulster on 30th April 2017.

14. Once a choir has been notified that they have made it into the heats they will be required to send the sheet music of the submitted entries to the Radio Ulster School Choir of the year production office, 麻豆社 Broadcasting House, Ormeau Avenue, Belfast, BT2 8HQ.

15. The heats and final will be filmed for 麻豆社 Online and photographs will be taken for publicity purposes. The 麻豆社 will make a small contribution towards travel expenditure for choirs selected who are more than 50 miles away from their school base. Children in the choirs will be expected to remain under the supervision of their school staff during the radio recordings.

16. The music chosen for performance in the heats and the final must be agreed with the series organisers. Choirs will perform 2 contrasting pieces of music, either accompanied or unaccompanied, not exceeding more than 8 minutes in total. Choirs are permitted to perform the same music at the heats as was submitted for the shortlisting process, providing it is not Christmas material.

17. Choirs should provide their own accompanist. A piano will be provided and no other additional instruments will be accepted. No backing tracks are allowed. The producers of the programme reserve the right to ask the finalists to make adjustments or change their entry - for example if other schools are submitting the same song. Only the first school specifying that selection will be allowed to perform it.

18. If there is under subscription in any of the 6 county areas, choirs meeting the judging criteria from other oversubscribed counties will be randomly selected to travel outside their area.

19. At the conclusion of the final, one choir from each section (Primary and Post Primary) will be selected as overall winner, and the two remaining choirs from each section (Primary and Post Primary) selected as the ‘runners-up’.

20. The title of "麻豆社 Radio Ulster (Junior or Senior) School Choir of the Year" is held for two years until the series is run again (it will be biennial). A school may make only one entry per category to the series this year. The title should not be used for any initiative, which could bring the 麻豆社 into disrepute or any commercial activity without the 麻豆社’s prior approval.

21. Entry implies acceptance of the present rules. The decision of the judges is final, without appeal and no subsequent correspondence on their decisions will be entered into. In case of any dispute concerning nominations, matters of eligibility or interpretation of these rules, the decision of the 麻豆社 shall be final.

Additional Information

22. Parental consent must be given for each child to take part in 麻豆社 Radio Ulster School Choir of the Year and the permission for each child to appear in the radio recordings and live transmission of the final must be sought by the school. The 麻豆社 is required to apply to the Education Boards and provide details of all the children taking part who are under 16 years old. The application has to be made to the Education Board in which the child lives, not where the child goes to school and the Education Boards will decide if a Child Licence is required.

23. Entries must not infringe the rights of any other party. The 麻豆社 accepts no liability if entrants ignore these rules and entrants agree to fully indemnify the 麻豆社 against any claims by any third party arising from any breach of these rules.

24. Entrants must agree to take part in any post-series publicity if required.

25. The 麻豆社 reserves the right to replace schools whose entry breaches any of these Terms and Conditions or, if in its opinion, entries that do not reach the required standard.

26. The 麻豆社 reserves the right to cancel this series or amend these terms and conditions at any stage, if deemed necessary in its opinion, and if circumstances arise outside its control.

27. The 麻豆社, its sub-contractors, subsidiaries and/or agencies cannot accept any responsibility whatsoever for any technical failure or malfunction or any other problem with any server, internet access, postal system or otherwise which may result in any entry being lost or not properly registered or recorded. Proof of sending is not proof of receipt.

28. These Terms and Conditions are governed by the law of England.

Privacy Statement

The 麻豆社 will handle personal details in accordance with the Data Protection Act 1998 and in line with the 麻豆社’s Privacy and Cookies Policy. The 麻豆社 will only ever use personal details for the purposes of administering this series, and if you opted in below, for those purposes as well. Your personal details will only be kept for as long as necessary. Please see the 麻豆社’s Privacy Policy at http://www.bbc.co.uk/privacy