Rules of the International Competition

violin making and bow making of Mirecourt
 

General Administration :
 

1.Registrations:

 

1.1. Registration can only be done online at the following address:www.lame-mirecourt.com

 

1.2. Registrations are open between December 15, 2022 and May 17, 2023.

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2.Registration fees:

 

2.1. 125 euros for violins and violas.

 

2.2. 175 euros for cellos and basses.

 

2.3. 100 euros for all bows (violin, viola, cello or double bass).

 

2.4. 400 euros for a quartet of instruments.

 

2.5. 300 euros for a quartet of bows.

 

2.6. 10% of the total amount collected for entries in the competition will be donated to a French association, chosen by the organizers, working on issues related to the preservation, use and regulation of raw materials and materials used in the instrumental invoice.

 

2.8. The choice of the beneficiary association of the donation made by LAME cannot be questioned.

 

2.9. The choice of the beneficiary association of the donation made by LAME will be the subject of a written communication to all registered members.

 

3.Responsibilities and insurance:

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3.1. The organizers of the competition have signed, for the duration of the event, a contract insurance to cover the instruments and bows registered by the attendees. Transport and their return are at the expense and sole responsibility of the candidates.

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3.2. The organizers cannot be held responsible for damage suffered by the candidates beyond the terms of this contract. Thus, by registering, candidates waive all recourse against the organizers and their insurers for all the damages they may suffer as a result of their participation and which would be excluded or not covered by the guarantees taken out.

 

3.3. The insurance taken out by the organizers will take effect upon receipt of the work by a person in charge of the organization of the contest or a representative of the contest mandated by the organizing committee. It will end upon delivery of the same instruments and bows in the hands of the candidates or any person duly commissioned by him.

 

3.4. If applicants choose to ship and/or collect their work via a
professional carrier, they will assume their order as well as the packaging of the
instruments and bows. They also undertake to provide this transport. The organizers cannot be held liable if the instruments or bows were damaged or stolen during transport. This is why, and if they deem it necessary, candidates will provide the organizers with packaging for the return of their works. Failing this, the organizers will again use the one that will have been used for their initial shipment.

 

The cost of shipping and returning the work is entirely the responsibility of the candidates. In the event that work cannot be reshipped, storage fees will be applied.

 

3.5. Upon receipt of the package for the work shipped or when they are deposited for the work delivered by hand, a condition report will be drawn up between the carrier, the candidate or any person mandated by him and a person in charge of the competition or by a person appointed by the organizing committee of the competition.

Upon receipt of the work, an acknowledgment of receipt will be sent to the candidates electronically.

 

3.6. A second observation will be drawn up, in an identical manner, during the restitution of the work.

 

3.7. If the work has been sent, the reports will be sent electronically with photos in support of candidates to enable them to carry out their procedures with carriers in the event of damage during transport.

 

 

 

General contest rules:
 

1.Objectives of the competition:

 

1.1. Highlight the instruments and bows which, while testifying to a belonging to the great traditions of lutherie and bow making, reflect the research and personality of contemporary factors. »

 

1.2. Evaluate the technical mastery in coherence with the expressed style.

 

1.3. Appreciate the acoustic and playing qualities of instruments and bows.

 

1.4. The awards will aim to reward the craftsmanship and artistic value of work presented and thereby to highlight the craftspeople who made these instruments and bows.

 

1.5. Expose to the public all the instruments and bows submitted in the competition in order to to promote contemporary violin making and bow making internationally.

 

2.Conditions of admission :

 

2.1. The instruments and bows offered in the competition may have been made by one or several people. In the case where an instrument or a bow has been made by several people, the identity of each person who participated in its realization must be specified during registration.

 

2.2. Legal persons are not allowed to enter the competition.

 

2.3. The instruments and bows presented must not have already been awarded in a competition.

 

 

2.4. Each candidate can participate in four categories, at most by presenting only one instrument or bow per category, with the exception of the quartet category.

Frog and button made entirely by hand

 

3.General rules :

 

3.1. The rules of the competition and the method of assessment put in place aim to guarantee a fair and sincere result from the members of the jury and this for all the candidates, finalists or not.

 

3.2. The members of the jury will judge the work in their soul and conscience. Their honesty will be called into question, in particular if an award-winning candidate happens to have maintained a professional or personal relationship with one of the members of the jury.

 

3.3. Once the winners are announced on Thursday July 06, 2023, no appeal can be made; no complaint will be admissible.

 

3.4. At the end of the competition, all the instruments and bows will be presented to the public from 7 to July 9, 2023, in Mirecourt.

 

4.Assembly and finishes:

 

4.1. The instruments must be varnished without patina or wear (full varnish); the slight gradients are accepted.

,No traces of blows (blackened head chamfers allowed).

 

4.2. The instruments must be submitted with a modern set-up. Violas' body length must be between 40cm (15'' 3/4) and 42.5cm (16'' 1/2).

 

4.3. The frogs and buttons of the bows must be mounted in ebony and silver.

 

4.4. Instruments and bows must be submitted ready to be played. No intervention, no adjustment should be necessary before the juries of luthiers, bow makers or musicians do their job.

 

4.5. If the jury deems necessary a minimal intervention on an instrument or a bow, the organizing committee would arrange for this intervention to be carried out.

 

4.6. The instruments must have a set of new strings.A

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4.7. Bows should presented rosined, preferably with neutral rosin.

 

 

5.Categories and awards:

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5.1. Ten categories will be on the list: Violin, Viola, Cello, Quartet and Double bass (instruments and bows). However, to be judged in their own right, the foursome categories will have to accommodate at least five nominations.

 

5.2. Instruments and bows entered in the quartet category will also be judged individually.

 

5.3. In the event that the quota of five candidates is not reached in the quartet category, the instruments would only be judged individually;

 

5.4. Candidates can only present one instrument or bow per category (art. 2.5 of the general rules of the competition), when sending or depositing the instruments and bows Candidates in the quartet category must specify which violin or violin bow they wish to present individually in the competition.

 

5.5. Each category of instruments and bows will be assigned a ranking for instruments selected to enter the final.

 

5.6. In addition, each member of the juries (Lutherie, Bowmaking, Musicians) may assign a particular prize per category.

 

5.7. The contest organizers and their partners may decide on special prizes.

 

5.8. The value or nature of the prizes will be determined in due course.

 

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6.Reception of instruments and bows:

 

6.1. Instruments and bows sent by courier must arrive between the 26th and the June 30, 2023 at the following address:

Espace Flambeau

14, Avenue Duchêne

88500 Mirecourt

 

6.2. Candidates wishing to submit their work themselves may do so only on June 29 and 30, 2023 at the following address:

Espace Flambeau

14, Avenue Duchêne

88500 Mirecourt

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Candidates entering the "Double Bass" category have until 4 July 2023 10:00 a.m. to submit their work to the above address.

 

7.Reimbursement of registration fees:

 

7.1. Registrations are considered firm and final upon receipt of the registration fees.

 

7.2. However, in the event of justified force majeure, a request for reimbursement may be formulated. The sum of 25€ will however be retained.

 

7.3. No request for reimbursement of registration fees will be considered beyond the 1st June 2023.

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8.Authors' certificate:

 

8.1. Each instrument or bow proposed for the competition must be accompanied by a certificate clearly indicating the name of the natural person(s) who participated in its realization as well as their value to enable the organizers to ensure it.

In addition, the candidates undertake to fully produce the instruments and bows presented in the competition, without resorting to the use of parts partially or entirely produced by a third party.
 

9.Confidentiality / anonymity:

 

9.1. No signature, label or stamp should be visible during the study of the instruments and bows; whether by the people in charge of the condition report, reception of instruments and bows, or by the members of the jury.

 

9.2. For instruments, stamps, signatures, labels or any distinctive sign present inside the instrument case must be masked.

 

9.3. Any masking placed to hide the stamps on the bows must not be able to detach under the action of friction and possible humidity of the the hand of the musicians. It is therefore strongly advised not to put stamps on the handle of the bows submitted to the competition; these can easily be signed at the outcome of the competition.
 

9.4. Failure to comply with these instructions will be grounds for disqualification. No recourse possible

 

10.Early withdrawal of instruments or bows in competition:

 

10.1. No instrument or bow registered for its participation in the competition may be withdrawn before the end of the jury's work.
 

11. The award-winning instruments and bows must be exhibited to the public from 7 to 9 July 2023, in Mirecourt.

 

11.1. An award-winning instrument or bow that could not be exhibited to the public would be automatically disqualified.

 

11.2. In case of disqualification, registration fees cannot be refunded.
 

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12.Organizing / protest committee:

 

12.1. The organizing committee is mainly composed of members of the LAME association
 

12.2. Any disputes concerning the conduct of the competition would be formulated in writing and sent to the organizing committee at the following address:

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LAME, C/O l'Atelier d'Arthur

Rue Truffaut, 3 

75017 Paris

France

12.3. If necessary, French legislation is the only one recognized by the organizing committee
 

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13.Image rights:

 

13.1. The candidates authorize the organizing committee to take photos of the work they submit to the competition, with a view to dissemination and archiving.
 

13.2.Candidates must sign the document authorizing the Organizing Committee to broadcast, by any means whatsoever, images of the instruments and bows entered in the competition.
 

13.3. Photographs and all other audio-visual documents produced by the competition will then be deposited at the Violin-making and Bow-making Museum of Mirecourt for documentation.
 

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14.Regulated materials:

 

14.1. The instruments and bows offered in the competition must comply with the international regulations for the protection of fauna and flora. Candidates assume sole responsibility.
 

14.2. In the event of non-compliance with the regulations in force, which would be sanctioned during the transport of the work, the responsibility of the organizers and their insurers cannot not be engaged.
 

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15.Juries:

 

15.1. The members of the juries were chosen for their adherence to the spirit of the competition.
 

15.2. The juries are made up of personalities recognized by the world of instrument making and music as demonstrating probity.

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15.3. The composition of the juries will be announced on www.lame-mirecourt.fr no later than March 15, 2023.

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15.4. Jury composition

 

Violin makers:

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Éric Blot, Président

Andrea Frandsen

Joël Klépal

Jan Bartos

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Bow makers:

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Christophe Schaeffer, Président

Yannick Le Canu

Éric Grandchamp

Benoît Rolland

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Musicians:

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Yun-Peng Zhao (Violin, Diotima Qurtet)
Léo Marillier (Violin, Diotima Qurtet)
Franck Chevalier (Viola, Diotima Qurtet)
Nicolas Bône (Viola)
Pierre Morlet (Cello, Diotima Qurtet)
Pauline Bartissol (Cello)
Yann Dubost (Double bass)
Léo Genet (Double bass)

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Jury rules:
 

Scoring scales:
 

A) Bows
 

1) Stick
2) Head
3) Frog

4) Button
5) Quality of manufacture and finish
6) Playing quality
7) Model
8) General impression

 

B) Instruments
 

1) Quality of manufacture and finish
2) Model
3) Top
4) Back
5) Head
6) Varnish
7) Set-up
8) General impression

 

Conditions of access to the final:
 

C) Jury of musicians.

 

1) Each bow and each instrument admitted to the final is tested by the jury of musicians

 

2) Each selected instrument and bow is tested individually.

 

3) Selected instruments and bows are also tested in a chamber music setting.

 

AWARDS
 

At the end of the competition, a prize-giving evening will be organized in a hall of the City of Mirecourt. During this evening, some award-winning instruments and bows will be played in public. The choice of bows and instruments played will be left to the musicians among the bows and award-winning instruments.

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