Competition Code

Chapter 1 General Provisions

Article 1 (Name)

This Competition shall be called the Sendai International Music Competition, and shall be abbreviated to SIMC.

Article 2 (Purpose)

The Sendai International Music Competition shall be held for the purpose of contributing to the development of world musical culture and the promotion of international cultural exchange through the discovery of young talented musicians.

Article 3 (Organizers and Secretariat)

1. The Sendai International Music Competition (hereinafter referred to as the “Competition”) shall be held under the joint auspices of the Sendai International Music Competition Organizing Committee (hereinafter referred to as the “Organizing Committee”), the City of Sendai and the Sendai Cultural Foundation (hereinafter referred to as the “Cultural Foundation”).
2. The Secretariat of the Competition shall be established in the Cultural Foundation and shall comprise the Secretary General and secretariat members.
3. The Secretary General and the secretariat members shall be selected by the Cultural Foundation Director General (hereinafter referred to as the “Director General”) from the staff members of the Cultural Foundation.

Article 4 (Eligibility)

Eligibility shall be given to any persons born on or after a separately specified date, irrespective of nationality.

Article 5 (Structure, Section, Venue and Period)

1. The Competition shall consist of Preliminary, Semifinal and Final Rounds.
2. The Competition shall be held in two sections: violin and piano.
3. A Pre-Selection shall be held prior to the Competition.
4. The Competition shall be held in Sendai on separately specified dates.

Article 6 (Managing Committee)

1. The purpose of the Managing Committee shall be to plan and operate the Competition.
2. The organizers shall entrust the Managing Committee with the right to make decisions with regard to the rules concerning the Pre-Selection, Competition and others, as well as the rules concerning the judging.
3. The Managing Committee shall consist of approximately 10 members.
4. Managing Committee members shall be appointed by the Director General, and shall consist of Organizing Committee members, professionals in the music industry, and staff of host organizations, etc.
5. Managing Committee members shall be appointed for a period of three years. However, the office term of any committee member who fills a vacancy shall be the remaining term of office of his or her predecessor.
6. Managing Committee members may be reappointed.
7. The Managing Committee shall have one Chairperson and two Vice-Chairpersons. The Chairperson shall be appointed by the Director General, and the Vice-Chairpersons shall be appointed by the Chairperson.
8. The Managing Committee shall be able to establish a music division or any other division to investigate and deliberate any professional matter related to the Competition.
9. Any matter the Managing Committee cannot decide upon shall be settled by the decision of the Director General through consultation with representatives of the host organizations.

Article 7 (Jury)

1. Concerning the judging for the Pre-Selection and Competition, the Director General shall appoint jury members (hereafter referred to as the “Jury Members”) for each section from among musicians and professionals in the music industry through consultation with Managing Committee members.
2. Jury Members must render fair evaluations at all times.
3. Jury Members shall not judge the performances of anyone they have taught within two years of the Competition. This applies to the Pre-Selection in judging of those who apply to enter the Competition (hereafter referred to as the “Applicant”), and to each round of the Competition in judging of those who pass the Pre-Selection to advance to the Preliminary Round and up (hereafter referred to as the “Contestant”).
4. With the exception of the case stated in the previous clause, Jury Members must evaluate the entire performance of all Contestants in each round of the Competition for which they are responsible.
5. With the exception of the case stated in Clause 3, an evaluation rendered by any Jury Member who is absent from any part of the performances shall be voided for the pertinent round of the Competition for which he or she is responsible.

Article 8 (Judging Committee and Jury Panel)

1. The Pre-Selection shall be made by a Jury Panel consisting of several Jury Members.
2. A Judging Committee consisting of 11 Jury Members for each section shall be established to judge the Competition. A minimum of 7 Jury Members must be present to make a judgment.
3. The evaluations made during the Competition by each Jury Member shall be made available to the public. However, details of how a Jury Member voted shall not be disclosed.
4. The Jury Members and Contestants are not permitted to be in contact during the Competition. Once a Contestant fails to pass a round, this condition shall no longer apply.
5. No person who participates in meetings of the Jury Panel or the Judging Committee shall divulge any information pertaining to these meetings.
6. In addition to the judging details stated in Clause 2, the Judging Committee shall decide the ranking of prizewinners based on the provision stated in Clause 1 of Article 19 and all other matters pertaining to the Competition prizes.
7. The Judging Committee shall have a Jury Chairperson and two Vice-Chairpersons for each section. The Jury Chairperson shall be appointed from among the Jury Members by the Managing Committee Chairperson with the approval of the Managing Committee. The two Vice-Chairpersons shall be appointed from among the Jury Members by the Jury Chairperson of the relevant section.
8. The proceedings of meetings of the Jury Panel and the Judging Committee shall not be made available to the public.

Chapter 2 Application and Pre-Selection

Article 9 (Application Method)

1. All Applicants must submit the following to the Secretariat: an application form and other separately specified documents (hereafter referred to as the “Application Documents”) and video data containing the Applicants’ performances of the separately specified Repertoire (hereafter referred to as the “Video Data”).
2. The performance recorded on the Video Data must have been given by the Applicant himself or herself after a separately specified date. No editing is allowed of the Video Data.
3. The method of and deadline for submitting the Application Documents and the Video Data (hereafter referred to as the “Submitted Materials”) shall be set separately.
4. The Submitted Materials shall not be returned to the Applicant.
5. In the case of Applicants submitting by post, the organizers or the Secretariat shall not be held responsible for any loss of Submitted Materials in the mail.

Article 10 (Pre-Selection)

1. The Pre-Selection shall be held to decide which Applicants qualify for the Competition.
2. The Pre-Selection shall be conducted by evaluating the Submitted Materials.
3. The Jury Chairperson shall decide which Applicants pass the Pre-Selection based on the evaluation of the Jury Panel responsible for making such judgment. The results of the Pre-Selection shall be sent out to the Applicants by a separately specified date.
4. The Applicants who pass the Pre-Selection should number about 36 in each section.
5. No objection or complaint shall be allowed concerning the decision made in accordance with Clause 4.

Article 11 (Entry Fee)

1. Applicants must send an entry fee of JPY 15,000 to the Secretariat by a separately specified date. All bank charges shall be borne by the Applicant.
2. The entry fee is not refundable for whatever reason.
3. If the entry fee is not paid by the deadline specified in Clause 1, the application for the Competition may not be accepted.

Chapter 3 Competition

Article 12 (Registration)

1. Those Contestants who pass the Pre-Selection as stated in Clause 4 of Article 10 must appear at the place appointed by the Secretary General for registration in the Competition (hereafter referred to as “Registration”) on a separately specified date.
2. The Secretary General may extend the deadline set according to the previous clause through consultation with the Managing Committee Chairperson, if any special reason arises.
3. Those who fail to register by the specified date, or by the extended deadline (see previous clause), shall be disqualified.

Article 13 (Competition Performance)

1. In each round of the Competition, performances shall be given as follows:

   1)

   The Violin Section Preliminary Round: Performing with an orchestra and performing solo

   2)

   The Piano Section Preliminary Round: Performing solo piece(s)

   3)

   The Semifinal and Final Rounds: Performing with an orchestra

2. The repertoire and the criteria for the Contestants’ selecting pieces for performance shall be separately specified.
3. The order of performances in the Preliminary Round shall be decided based on a draw prior to the round.
4. The order of performances in the Semifinal Round shall follow the order in the Preliminary Round stated in the previous clause. However, the order of the Contestants who do not pass the Preliminary Round shall be brought forward.
5. The order of performances in the Final Round shall be decided based on a draw held after the completion of the Semifinal Round.
6. The Contestants must attend the draw required for each round of the Competition in which he or she shall perform.
7. Notwithstanding Clause 3, 4 or 5, the order of performances may be changed if the Managing Committee Chairperson deems it necessary.
8. The orchestra required for the performances in the Competition shall be provided by the organizers.
9. Performances in the Competition shall not, in principle, be suspended. However, if any performance exceeds the allowed duration or if there are any special circumstances deemed to be an obstacle to judging, the Jury Chairperson may give instructions for the performance to be stopped.
10. If the Jury Chairperson gives instructions for the Contestant to stop, he or she must stop his or her performance promptly.
11. Contestants must perform from memory. All performances in the Competition shall be open to the public.
12. No changes to the performance pieces indicated on the application form shall be allowed unless the Secretariat is notified in writing by a separately specified date. The same procedures should be taken if the revised performance pieces are changed again.

Article 14 (Competition Judgment)

1. In judging the Competition, the Judging Committee shall decide which Contestants pass each round of the Competition based on the performance evaluations made by the Jury Members who comprise the Judging Committee.
2. For each section of the Competition, the number of successful Contestants in the Preliminary Round shall be 12, and the number in the Semifinal Round shall be 6.
3. If there is any problem that cannot be settled by the Judging Committee in accordance with this Code and the other rules established under this Code regarding Competition Judgment, it shall be settled by the Managing Committee Chairperson through consultation with the Jury Chairperson.
4. No objection or complaint shall be allowed concerning the evaluations and decisions referred to in Clause 1, or the decision referred to in the previous clause.

Article 15 (Practice)

1. During the Competition, the organizers shall provide the Contestants in each round of the Competition with the following practice opportunities, free of charge:

   1)

   For the Piano Section: Four hours a day in a room equipped with a piano starting from the day after the Registration date.

   2)

   For the Violin Section: One rehearsal with the orchestra prior to the Preliminary Round. The rehearsal time shall be specified separately.

   3)

   For both sections: One rehearsal with an orchestra in the Semifinal and Final Rounds. The rehearsal time shall be specified separately.

Article 16 (Competition Appearances)

1. Contestants must appear at the appointed venue on the date and at the time specified by the Secretary General.
2. Any Contestant who fails to appear on the appointed date and at the appointed time for his or her scheduled performance shall not be able to perform in that round of the Competition. However, if the circumstances are deemed unavoidable, and he or she still wishes to give a performance, the Managing Committee Chairperson, after consultation with the Jury Chairperson, may allow him or her to perform.

Article 17 (Delegation to Managing Committee)

In addition to the provisions of the previous chapter and this chapter, stipulations regarding the performances and the judgment procedures for the Pre-Selection and each Competition Round shall be specified separately by the Managing Committee.

Chapter 4 Prizes

Article 18 (Decision Regarding Rankings)

1. For each Competition section, the Judging Committee shall decide the order of the Contestants who completed their performance in the Final Round. The Judging Committee may decide not to award a place for some rankings or to award the same ranking to more than one Contestant.
2. Contestants whose ranking is determined in the previous clause shall be prizewinners.
3. If multiple Contestants become prizewinners of the same rank as stated in Clause 1, the following ranking(s) shall not be awarded based on the number of prizewinners of the same rank in question.

Article 19 (Commendations)

1. The organizers shall give the following awards to the prizewinners for each section according to their rank.

   1)

   First prize: Cash prize of JPY 3,000,000, Diploma and Gold Medal

   2)

   Second prize: Cash prize of JPY 2,000,000, Diploma and Silver Medal

   3)

   Third prize: Cash prize of JPY 1,000,000, Diploma and Bronze Medal

   4)

   Fourth prize: Cash prize of JPY 800,000 and Diploma

   5)

   Fifth prize: Cash prize of JPY 700,000 and Diploma

   6)

   Sixth prize: Cash prize of JPY 600,000 and Diploma

2. If more than one prizewinner is awarded the same rank, the total amount of cash prizes at that ranking and the following ranking(s) not awarded as stated in Clause 3 of Article 18 shall be divided equally. However, if more than one prizewinner is awarded the Sixth prize, this shall not apply.
3. Among the Contestants who participate in the Semifinal Round but fail to qualify for the Final Round, one Contestant for each Section may be awarded prize money of JPY 500,000 as a Jury Encouragement Prize by the Managing Committee based on the opinion of the Judging Committee, if he or she demonstrates notable talent. In such a case, the Managing Committee may delegate the decision-making to the Judging Committee in determining who is to be awarded．
4. In addition to the awards stipulated in Clause 1 and 3 of this Article, the Managing Committee may also present other awards such as audience prizes.
5. In addition to the prizes listed in Clause 1, supplementary prizes provided by organizations or individuals that support the aim of the Competition may be awarded by the Managing Committee to the prizewinners of each section.
6. The prize money shall be given after any taxes necessary under Japanese law are deducted from the amounts stated in this Article.

Article 20 (Engagements for the Highest Ranked Prizewinner)

1. The organizers shall arrange the following for the highest ranked prizewinner of each section of the Competition:

   1)

   A minimum of three concert appearances with the Sendai Philharmonic Orchestra and other major Japanese orchestras in Sendai and other major Japanese cities during a period specified separately.

   2)

   Recitals in Sendai and other cities during a period specified separately.

   3)

   The production of a compact disc with performances by each highest ranked prizewinner of each section.

2. For each performance referred to in subclauses 1 and 2 of the previous clause, the highest ranked prizewinner shall receive JPY 100,000 plus an amount equivalent to the consumption tax on that amount in Japan. The travel and accommodation expenses for such concerts shall be borne by the organizers. Likewise, the organizers shall bear such expenses for the piano accompanist in the violin recitals.
3. The highest ranked prizewinner of each section shall notify the Secretariat if he or she intends to perform in concerts in Japan earlier than the performance opportunities stated in the previous clause.
4. Clause 6 of the previous article shall apply to the performance fee stated in Clause 2.

Article 21 (Prizewinners’ Gala Concert)

1. The organizers shall organize a Prizewinners’ Gala Concert in Sendai (hereinafter in this article referred to as the “Gala Concert”), in which up to three of the highest ranked prizewinners of each section (hereinafter in this article referred to as the “Top Ranking Prizewinners”) shall perform. The schedule shall be specified separately.
2. The Top Ranking Prizewinners must agree to perform in the Gala Concert.
3. The pieces to be played in the Gala Concert by the Top Ranking Prizewinners shall be specified separately.
4. Each of the Top Ranking Prizewinners performing at the Gala Concert shall receive a performance fee of JPY 100,000 plus an amount equivalent to the consumption tax on that amount in Japan, and the accommodation expenses necessary for performing at this concert shall be borne by the organizers.
5. Clause 6 of Article 19 shall apply to the performance fee for the Gala Concert.

Chapter 5 Miscellaneous Provisions

Article 22 (Allocation of Expenses)

Refer to the list detailing the allocation of responsibility for expenses pertaining to participation in the Competition.

Article 23 (Copyright and related rights)

1. The Contestants agree to transfer gratuitously performers’ rights (except for moral rights) entitled to them under the Copyright Act of Japan to the Cultural Foundation pertaining to their performances on the compact discs produced in accordance with subclause 3 of Clause 1 of Article 20, as well as performances in all rounds of the Competition and all other related concerts held after the Competition. The portrait rights of the Contestants shall also be transferred gratuitously to the Cultural Foundation with respect to the portraits in the official records of the Competition and the related concerts after the Competition. The Cultural Foundation reserves the right to the exclusive use of all of those materials and to transfer the rights to a third party in any country or region at any time without the permission of the Contestants.
2. The Contestants shall not give any public performance during the period of the Competition other than those required for the Competition. However, once a Contestant fails to pass a round, this condition shall no longer apply.

Article 24 (Governing Law)

Any problem arising from or related to this Code shall be settled in accordance with the Japanese version of this Code and the laws of Japan.

Article 25 (Delegation)

The Director General shall retain the right to establish any additional operating requirements as needed to insure compliance with this Code.

Supplementary Provisions

(Effective Date)

1. This Code shall become effective on November 4, 1999.

(Interim Measure)

2. The office terms of the Managing Committee members appointed prior to March 31, 2002 shall terminate on the same day, regardless of Clause 5 of Article 6.

Supplementary Provision

This Code shall become effective on January 18, 2000.

Supplementary Provision

This Code shall become effective on September 25, 2000.

Supplementary Provision

This Code shall become effective on November 26, 2000.

Supplementary Provision

This Code shall become effective on April 1, 2002.

Supplementary Provision

This Code shall become effective on April 1, 2005.

Supplementary Provision

This Code shall become effective on April 1, 2008.

Supplementary Provision

This Code shall become effective on August 2, 2011.

Supplementary Provision

This Code shall become effective on April 1, 2012.

Supplementary Provision

This Code shall become effective on March 26, 2014.

Supplementary Provision

This Code shall become effective on March 23, 2017.

Supplementary Provision

This Code shall become effective on June 29, 2019.

Supplementary Provision

This Code shall become effective on October 1, 2019.

Supplementary Provision

This Code shall become effective on March 24, 2020.

Supplementary Provision

This Code shall become effective on May 17, 2022.

Supplementary Provision

This Code shall become effective on February 1, 2024.

Supplementary Provision

This Code shall become effective on March 21, 2024.

Allocation of responsibility for Expenses Pertaining to Participation in Competition (related to Article 22)

Burden Share
Round trip transportation to Sendai for Contestants	Residents of Japan	To be borne by the Contestants
	Non-residents of Japan	The Secretariat shall subsidize travel expenses, determined by area, by up to JPY 150,000.
Accommodation for Contestants (hotel and breakfast charges)	Providing Contestants use the accommodation facilities designated by the Secretariat, the accommodation expenses incurred shall be borne by the organizers as follows: From the date of registration for the relevant section of the Competition to a date after the last judging round of the Competition of Contestants, set by the Secretariat. All other accommodation expenses shall be borne by the Contestants.

Remarks:

1. The organizers shall not be responsible for expenses incurred for obtaining a passport, visa or any other expenses required for participation in the Competition.
2. If Contestants are accompanied by family members etc., accommodation arrangements and means of transportation for those accompanying family members etc. shall be the responsibility of the Contestants.