Call for applications: Jazz guitar competition in Poland

The competition is organised by the My Polish Heart Foundation, and is open to guitarists of all nationalities, up to 35 years old, performing jazz and music genres related to improvised music.

All types of guitars, including acoustic and electric instruments, are accepted. The competition will reward the winners with up to 30 000 Polish zloty ($7 600).

The submission deadline is 15 October.

How to apply

• Applications for the competition are accepted by the organiser based on a carefully completed application form.
• Competitors should also enclose:
  • A brief biography of the candidate in English (max 1500 characters)
  • Two images of the candidate (of good quality and at least 1MB in size)
  • Recordings of three songs, including two audio files in MP3 format and one video file in MOV, AVI, MP4, WMV format (none of the files can exceed 10MB). The video can also be sent in the form of a link to YouTube or Vimeo. Each of the submitted works should not exceed 10 minutes.
  • Confirmation of bank transfer for application to the contest.
• All of the competition’s stages, including semi-final, final auditions and the Gala Concert, will be held at Krakow’s Philharmonic concert hall. The jury includes Wolfgang Muthspiel, Marek Napiórkowski, Prof Karol Ferfecki and Witold Wnuk.
• The 12 participants who will compete in the semi-finals in Krakow (18 and 19 November) will be announced on 31 October.

Repertoire requirements

• The organiser does not set any repertoire requirements at the stage of online application.
• Candidates who qualify for the semi-finals are obliged to present the following programme:
  • Any composition of Jarek Smietana selected by the candidate;
  • Two freely selected tracks, including compositions of the candidate.
• Candidates qualified for the finals are obliged to present the following programme:
  • Any composition of Jarek Smietana selected by the candidate (other than presented during semi-final auditions).
  • Two freely selected tracks – possible compositions of the candidate.
• The organiser allows solo performances. The participants are required to perform all other compositions with the same rhythm section provided by the organiser (bass guitar/double bass and drums). The organiser does not allow performance with recorded instrumental backing (playback, half-playback, sampling, etc.).
• The duration of the audition during the semi-finals and finals for each candidate is 30 minutes max.
• The organiser permits a performance of one solo composition during the semi-finals and one solo composition during the finals.

Note: The songs selected by the candidates to be performed in the semi-finals and finals cannot be repeated.

Awards

• First place – 15 000 Polish zloty.
• Second place – 7 000 Polish zloty.
• Third place – 5 000 Polish zloty.

The finals are scheduled for the early afternoon hours of 20 November and in the evening a Gala Concert will take place, featuring the three prize winners as well as established musicians Wolfgang Muthspiel, Marek Napiorkowski and special guest Stanislaw Soyka, among others.

View the original call here.