- What choir-types can apply for Vivace?

o Vivace International Choir Festival is open to mixed, female, youth or children choirs. Vocal ensembles are also welcome to apply. However, since the festival schedule is rather tight, the festival for children under 10 is not recommended.

- How many choirs are accepted regularly for Vivace?

o We usually accept 8-9 choirs only.

- How do you select the invited choirs?

o Invitation is made upon sent in recent audio-recordings (audio cassette or CD made in the last 1-2 years) what we should receive before the deadline (28th February)

- Is it possible to apply on-line?

o Yes, you are welcome to apply on-line (in English) as well.

~ Please remember, that the working language of the festival and all the official correspondence is English. It is wise to find a person in the choir speaking proper English to keep in touch.

- When is the decision made?

o Before the 15th March. However, we understand that choirs coming from other continents need to know the decision earlier – we are open to discuss this directly.

- Shall we get an official invitation?

o The accepted choirs get official invitation.

- What are the financial conditions?

o Generally speaking, for active participants, a token contribution of 75 €/person is charged (see details below) For your information: the contribution/person you pay cover only the smaller part of the actual costs. The difference is covered with the generous support of the Town of Veszprem and different grants.

o For passive participants, 160 €/person is charged. Children under 14 years should pay 120€.

- What do these sums cover?

o Accommodation and food from the arrival evening till the end of the festival (see details below).

o For passive participants: additional, touristic programmes (see details below).

- Is there a limit of number of the participants?

o Not really. However, the contribution the active participants are requested to pay is more if your choir has more than 40 members. (From the 41st active participants up to the actual number of the singers, you are asked to contribute the festival with 90€/person. An example: you have 53 active participants, it means 40x75€=3.000 €, + 13x90€=1.170€, total: 4.170 €)

- Who is considered to be active participants?

o The singers, the conductor and the instrumentalist(s) performing at the gala concert are considered to be active participants.

- How about teachers, chaperones, doctor, travelling with a children's choir?

o They are asked to pay 90€/person. They should stay with the choir however.

- We'd like to travel with our tour-manager and/or interpreter. Do we have to pay after them?

o Yes, you should pay 90€/person after them if they stay with the active group. Should they want to join in the passives' programmes, the difference (70€) should be paid upon arrival.

- Do we have to pay after our bus-driver?

o No. The costs of the 1 max. 2 drivers - as long as they stay with the group - during the festival-period are covered by the festival.

- How should we pay?

o The accepted choirs are asked to transfer the contributions and half of the fee for the passive participants in advance, roughly by the middle of April, in Euro. Pro-forma invoice will be sent by fax when necessary. The rest is to be paid upon arrival, when you also get a detailed receipt on the whole sum.

o Please remember that we need the net-sum, so you have to pay the bank-commissions.

- We do not exactly know who is coming with the choir, so it is difficult to calculate so much in advance. What should we do?

o Please transfer the money according to the most possibly estimated number of travellers. You can modify these numbers by 30th June, when you are asked to send the final traveller-list/rooming list. According to this number, should you come with more people than paid in advance, the difference should be paid upon arrival. According to this number, should you come with less people than paid in advance, the reimbursement is made upon arrival, too.

o Should you come with less people and announce it after the 30th June, very much to our regret, but the personal contribution(s) will not be reimbursed.

- What should we do, if after the 30th June a member gets ill and cannot come?

o In such case -vis major - we obviously reimburse his/her contribution to the choir, upon official medical report (in Latin or in English). However, we suggest you to replace him/her with another singer.

- Should we arrive some days earlier or stay some days after the festival? On what cost?

o An extra night in the same place is 15€/person, half-board (breakfast and one main meal) is further 17€/person.

- Are credit cards accepted in Hungary?

o Major credit cards are accepted, however please remember, that in most of the shops cash (Hungarian Forint) is accepted. ATM-s are at your disposal in town.

- What is the timetable of the festival for the active participants?

by the evening: arrival; dinner

morning: breakfast,
Rehearsal of the common pieces in the Veszprém Culture Centre (VMK)
Lunch
Conductors’ meeting
For the singers: sight-seeing walk in Veszprém with the choir-guides
(members of the festival-host Veszprém City Choirs, speaking good English)
Dinner
Procession of the choirs from the VMK to the Castle Open-air stage (in uniforms/costumes)
Evening: Festival-opening concert

Breakfast
Acoustic rehearsal of the common pieces in the Castle, Open-air stage
"Fill the town with music" -informal singing in the streets and squares of
Veszprem
Lunch
Individual rehearsal for the choirs + individual acoustic rehearsal in the Castle,
Open-air Stage
Dinner
Gala-concert and competition in the Castle, Open-air stage. At the end: performing the common pieces while the international jury makes its decision and the votes of the audience are counted. Announcement of the results.
Disco in VMK

Breakfast
Individual concerts (full or shared) in Veszprém and vicinity in churches or at open-air venues. (concerts can be either in the morning or in the afternoon)
Lunch or cold lunch packet, according to the time of the individual concert
Free time by the Lake Balaton.
Dinner
Festival closing ceremony and farewell-party

Breakfast
Departure

- Are there any special programmes for the passive participants?

o Yes, there are. Passive participants – accompanying persons, such as spouses, children, friends, sponsors of the group, etc – have full-day excursions on Friday and Saturday in the Bakony and Balaton-region, visiting touristic attractions including Pannonhalma (World Heritage), Zirc (arboretum, abbey, historic library), Herend (Porcelain manufactory), Nagyvazsony (medieval castle), etc. Wine tasting gives a good opportunity to taste the world-famous Balaton-Upland wines. Professional guidance in English is provided. Passive participants are obviously welcome to attend all the concerts, and on Sunday they should keep with their choir.

o As our experiences show, it is not recommended to bring children under 10 as a passive participants, as the programme might be exhausting for them.

o It is friendly. The stage is covered, buildings are around, and when necessary, a good sound system helps the ensembles.

o Yes, a good quality electric piano is available for the gala-concert. If you need other instruments, you should bring them along.

o No. However, we ask the conductor of the accepted choirs to suggest a short piece from their national repertoire, which matches with the festival focus (joys of living) and is appropriate to be performed by the festival choir (cca. 300 singers). These pieces are sent out to the participating choirs and should be learned in advance, since there are just two rehearsals to fix them. These pieces are to be sung at the end of the gala-concert, while the jury is making its decision for the jury's prize, and the votes of the audience are counted.

o Each choir has a dressing-room/rehearsal room in the VMK. Sorry, but there are just a very limited number of pianos there.

o There are no appropriate venues in Hotel Magiszter for rehearsals.

o The festival has a special focus on the “Joy of living” – whatever it is considered to be: love, nature, beauty, friendship, humour, music-dance, pleasures of the plate, praising wine and good company… The most important is that your gala-programme should be composed around one or more aspects of the pleasures of life. The time should not exceed 15 minutes on stage. (Total time!)

o There is just one: minimum half of the pieces should be sung a cappella. Otherwise piano or any instruments can be used, and you are encouraged to include choreographic elements or soli (vocal or instrumental) as well.

o Not at all. The beauties and the joys of human life are not necessarily always loud and tempo giusto! It is up to you how you can show the different aspects of pleasure in different characters, resulting a well-balanced programme which has a start, a climax and an end, showing up the smiling faces of your nation or of the human beings in general. Please remember to give a proper title to your gala-programme.

o Since the invited choirs represent a good standard, where intonation, authentic and vibrant interpretation is no longer a problem, the 3-4 member international jury focuses also on the dramaturgy and the overall impression of the programme. The 8-900 member audience is also asked to vote for their favourites.

o There are two prizes, one for the jury and another for the audience. Special respects are given according the best interpretation of a folkloric, a modern pieces, piece with good choreography etc. No monetary prizes. The character of the prizes matches with the friendly character of Vivace…

o From the 1st May 2004 Hungary is the member of the European Union, so no visa is needed from EU-countries. If you come from other countries, it is wise to check this with the Hungarian Embassy of your homeland. Should you need a visa, please allow us enough time to arrange all the necessary papers from our side as well (name-list, passport-numbers etc…)

o You have to arrange insurance for the travellers yourselves. Should you travel with a rented bus, please make sure, that the bus company you choose provides all the necessary, full-scale insurances for the driver(s) as well as for the bus, and is able to handle the situation if the bus happens to break down and needs repair.

o No and yes. As Veszpem is a relatively small town where everything is in a walking distance (10-20 minutes), and bus-parking is a crucial issue in the city centre (beside being quite expensive) we recommend not to use your bus. The only exception is Sunday, when the choirs need their own buses for the individual concerts and the Balaton-excursion in the rest of day.

o Should you have motion-handicapped singers, they will however need assistance in transportation – the local taxi-cabs have fair prices, and your choir-guides will assist you in ordering, while you should bear the costs.

o Yes. The local bus company is happy to pick you up at the airport and drive you back to Budapest-Ferihegy Airport after the festival at a reasonable cost. Those who have no buses, the transportation on Sunday (individual concerts and free time by the Balaton) is arranged by the festival.

o All the participants, choirs and accompanying persons are accommodated in the youth hostel of the Veszprem University, Hotel Magiszter. It is a 15 minute walk from the city centre, new, modern, very comfortable indeed! In the building, there are elevators. A unit includes 2 rooms each with 2 beds, cupboards, table, chairs, a little kitchen with micro-wave and refrigerator. The guests of one unit (4 persons) should share the bathroom: WC, shower, lavatories.

o No. Bed sheets are provided. However, remember to bring along hangers for your clothing, soap, shampoo and towels. (One towel is provided by the Hotel Magiszter, but you’ll certainly need more when going to the Balaton…)

o Yes, but actives should still pay the contribution mentioned above apart from the actual hotel costs, passives should cover the costs + 100€ for the festival share. We are ready to assist you finding an appropriate alternative. However, our idea is keep the participants together.

o The meals – from the dinner on Thursday up to the breakfast of Monday – are served in restaurants. Soft drinks and alcoholic beverages should be paid by yourselves in the restaurants. Water from the tap is fine to drink. The choir will be asked to provide the number of vegetarians and also the food restrictions together with the rooming list, by the 30th June.

o Usually it is quite warm (24-30 °C). Having the Balaton so close, and you’ll have also time to visit it, do not forget your bathing suits at home!