1. Performing sections and Categories

All contests will be divided into the following categories:

① Tremolo Solo, Chromatic Solo, Blues Solo, Jazz Solo, Duo, Trio, Ensembles (4~6 people), Small orchestra (7~15 people), Orchestra (16 people and more); and

② Elementary (age of 12 and below), Middle-High School (age of 13~18), Adults (age of 19~59), Senior (age of 60 and above) based on school year. For Orchestra only, up to 10% of the team members can be of a different age group. Contest participants are responsible for selecting the correct age category; violators will be penalized, regardless of when the violation is discovered.

  1. Contest Operating Procedure

① Categorized solo performers will go through the qualifying rounds; top 15 qualifiers will be selected and will move on to the next main round.

② Contest participants may select a song of their choice other than the specified song, if the total playing time is less than 8 minutes. However, in the preliminary rounds, the total playing time is limited to 2 minutes per performance. Section of the song chosen by the participant needs to be specified prior to the start of the performance.

③ Contestants must adhere to the limited time of performance as directed by the judge. If a contestant does not follow instructions, such contestant may be disqualified at the sole discretion of the judges.

④ To simplify the judging procedures, participants must submit 5 copies of performance score to the judges, provided that participant shall be solely responsible for obtaining all legal copyrights (Optional).

⑤ In relations with contest operations, any specific contest procedures that are not specified in the regulations shall be determined separately from the organizing committee.

  1. Basic rule of selecting the prize winner

① The prize winners will be decided by the final evaluation sheets prepared by the contest judges from each category events and the prize selection committee will make the announcements.

② Prize selection committee will be comprised of the Chairman of Organization, the Secretary-General, and the judges of each category events. The Chairman of Organization will take on the responsibility of the Chief of Prize Selection Committee.

③ Once you have received the prize from the event, you shall be eligible for a prize in the future contests.

  1. The Criteria of selecting the prize winner

① In Selection Committee selecting the finalists and the winners, the highest scoring of 100 will be used. The highest and the lowest scores will be taken out and the rest of the scores will be summed and averaged to get the final score.

② If the participants are not able to continue the performance due to the malfunction of the instrument, they will be disqualified.

③ If the scores of the contestants are the same, the older aged (birthdates) will have the higher ranking.

④ The head of the judges in each category will collect all the signed scoring sheets from the judges and submit them to the Prize selection committee immediately after the judging is finished.

  1. Judging Criteria

These are the evaluation criteria.

① Musicality (understanding the song, musical expression) – 40%

② Playing skills (pitch, rhythm, playing, tone, rhythm) – 45%

③ Difficulty of the songs – 10%

④ Stage presence – 5%

  1. Selecting the Judges

The judges will be selected by the Chairman of Tournament, the Chairman of Organization, the Secretary-General from the list of professional musicians who understand the music of harmonica.

  1. Limitation of appointing of the judges

If the judge caused any problem during the judging process that can tarnish the reputation of the tournament, he or she cannot be reappointed.

  1. Judges

Each category event judges is composed of 5 judges and one of them is the chief of the judges.

  1. Prize Selection Committee

① The Prize Selection Committee shall be comprised of Chairman of organization, the Secretary-General and judges of each category events and the Chairman of Organization will take on the responsibility of the Chairman of Prize Selection Committee.

② The Prize Selection Committee can decide not to have any winner if it is not up to the standard of the tournament.

  1. Notes on judging process

Judges shall confirm all of the following:

① The identification of the participant has to match the actual person;

② The scoring sheets must be signed by the judge;

③ The scoring sheets must be confidential; and

④ All actions (personal conversations among the judges, showing personal relationship with participant and etc.) that can raise issues relating to the fairness of judging is prohibited.

  1. Announcement of the Judging

Chairman of the Prize Selection Committee will publicly announce the finalists and the winners promptly after examining of the scoring sheets submitted by the judges of the category and confirm the ranking order.

  1. Awards

Select participants will be awarded the following awards:

① Mayor of Seoul Prize: The highest award of the tournament (only award is given)

② Tournament Prize winner: The highest prize of the tournament. Selected from the top winners in each categories

③ First Prize: The highest scoring participant in each category. If the First prize winner wins the Tournament Prize then the second highest scorer in that category will get First Prize.

④ Second Prize: Second highest scorer in that category

⑤ Third Prize: Third highest scorer in that category

⑥ Participation prize: Qualifiers

⑦ Special prize: The participant who touched/inspired the other participants through his or her unique story

  1. The Treatments for the winners

The winners will get the opportunity to perform in domestic and foreign concerts hosted by Korea Harmonica Education Association and Korea Harmonica Orchestra and also the opportunity to be associated with sister International Harmonica Associations.

  1. Participant Awareness

① Each of the contestants participating in the festival must understand the rules and regulations before entering into any contest and may not raise any objection or protest about the outcome of the judging.

② All the contestants participating in the events must show proof of identification (e.g., name tag given by the Organization Committee) and if any participant is discovered to be a false participant, all privileges (participation, prize) will be taken away.

③ If the contestant participating in the event objects or protests for an unjust reason, that person will not be able to participate in the events for 3 years.

④ After the entry form application due date is passed, no fees will be refunded. Fees may be refundable only during the application period.

⑤ The finalists must submit 5 musical scores to the tournament headquarters and the scores will not be returned back.