Summa Cum Laude Choir & Band Festival

Program Overview
Click here to download the sample SCL Festival program itinerary for 2011 to 2013.


SCL Competition
The prestigious competition will be held in the Golden Hall and judged by a selection of top music professionals, all well-respected and well-known internationally. At the conclusion of the Festival, every winner of each of the different categories will perform their best work before an international and local audience in the Golden Hall of the Musikverein.


SCL Celebration
The SCL Celebration has been introduced in order to give ensembles the opportunity to interact and to take part in the festival without having to compete in the competition. The non-competitive program will culminate with a concert in the Golden Hall. Ultimately, this is the true focus of the Summa Cum Laude International Youth Music Festival: to create an environment where young musicians from all over the world can interact on an international level and build bridges amongst themselves.


Workshops and Lectures
The Summa Cum Laude Festival offers all performing groups the opportunity to participate in unique workshops, that will be held in Vienna’s University of Music. These workshops offer an inspirational occasion where individual groups as well as combined ensembles may qualitatively enhance their musical knowledge under the tutelage of distinguished lecturers.

All participating groups will take part in two interactive workshops, For the choirs, these will be held together with other groups if possible. The workshops are conducted by members of the festival’s jury. Participants will have the chance to study new pieces and will receive musical and technical advice from the experienced  teachers.

Furthermore all participants will take part in a lecture held by a former member of the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra. The workshops and the lecture will have a length of approximately 45 minutes each.

Orchestra and Band workshops
All orchestras and bands are required to prepare music pieces which will be praticed during the workshops. All participants must therefore bring their own instruments. The workshops are held by members of the festival’s orchestra and band juries.

Choir workshops and lectures
The pieces that will be  studied during the workshops need not be prepared by the choirs beforehand. The workshops are held by members of the choir jury.


Highlights of the Festival

• The opening ceremony held in St. Stephen's Cathedral, Austria's landmark and a symbol of Austrian identity
• Workshops and seminars held in the University of Music in Vienna, one of the largest arts universities in the world
• The Gala Winner's concert, held in the sold out (2000 + audience) Golden Hall of the Musikverein, witnessed by 300 youths from 41 countries participating in the Global Young Leader's Conference
• The closing ceremony held in the magnificent Festival Hall of Vienna's City Hall, hosted by the Lord Mayor of Vienna
• For the first time in 2009 donations received at the additional concerts in the Neusiedlerseeregion will go towards "Licht ins Dunkel", Austria's largest humanitarian aid organization, supported by the Austrian broadcasting corporation
  
  Additional concerts held in some of Vienna's most reputable cultural institutions such as:
• The Austrian National Library, featuring the largest baroque library in Europe and one of the most beautiful historical libraries in the world; accompanying the festival is an exhibition of some of the library's most precious pieces related to music
• The Liechtenstein Museum, housing one of Europe's most important private art collections
• The "Haus der Musik", an interactive discovery museum located in the former Palais of Archduke Charles and awarded the Austrian Museum Prize for innovative design
• The SCL festival cooperates with the "Wiener Ferienspiel", the city's biggest children's holiday program; festival performances take place at the opening with over 30000 children and youths; participants of the Ferienspiel get the opportunity to visit the festival's venues and are instructed by students specialized in music education
• The Imperial Festival Palace in Schlosshof, a magnificent baroque complex only recently rebuilt in one of Austria's most ambitious post-war cultural projects
• St. Charles Church, another of Vienna's greatest buildings and the most beautiful and interesting baroque cathedral north of the Alps
• The "Hofburg", the Habsburg's former imperial residence, today's seat of the Austrian Federal President

 

Application & Participation Fee
The application to the SCL Festival is open to young musicians of all nations below the age of 26. A maximum of 10% of the participants may be between 26 and 30 years of age. Conductors and piano players accompanying the choirs are not subject to the age limit.

Due to a limited capacity, Via Musica strongly recommends registration as soon as possible. As outlined below, the registration procedure consists of the following chronological steps:

- Download and fill in the application form
- Application containing all the required materials (as stated below)
- Acceptance to the Festival within 2 weeks after receipt of all materials
- Payment of the festival fee (as stated on the application form) within 4 weeks after acceptance

Please note that there are certain required music pieces for the SCL Festival, which can be viewed here.

Required Materials

Within the registration deadline	At the latest by 15th April of the festival year
• Application form, filled out completely • CD or DVD recording (live or studio) of the performing group with a minimum of 3 works, not older than 4 years • Short biography (in English) of the performing group and the conductor (max. 1 page/ Word file)	• High resolution colour photos of the performing group and the conductor (Tiff, Bitmap or Jpeg) • Five original conductor scores each of the works performed in the Competition (including the compulsory pieces), as well as the workshop pieces (orchestras only) • Data sheet for the individual participants • Stage Plan for the Musikverein with the formation of the group

If you have any questions regarding the SCL Festival, feel free to contact us or read up more from the FAQs page.