The part to be realized on the main stage of Schauspielhaus Graz at the competition final is act II from Ritornello before Orfeo: “Vi ricorda o boschi ombrosi” until act III, Sinfonia after Orfeo: “Rendetemi il mio ben, Tartare numi” – without the choruses of this section.
The link to the online portal for submissions can be found here on this page from Mon, May 27,2024.
The competition is public and open to candidates from all countries. Directors and set and costume designers who can show proof of appropriate professional training or artistic experience and have not yet staged an independent production at a major theatre are eligible to enter. Participants must not be over the age of 35 (effective date is the submission deadline,16 September 2024). All candidates are in principle required to form teams, each consisting of at least one director and one set and costume designer. However, a team can consist of up to a maximum of five people (e.g. additional costume designer, dramaturg, composer, choreographer, video artist, etc.).
In any case of dispute as to eligibility to enter the competition the decision taken by the RING AWARD Board of Directors shall be final.
Step 1: To take part in the competition, a production concept (direction, set and costume design) for the entire competition opera “L’Orfeo” by Claudio Monteverdi is required. When submitting, the budgetary feasibility of the specified part of the competition to be realised in the final should already be taken into account.
Step 2: For the semifinal, a storyboard, a stage design model (scale 1:25) and a calculation of the set and costume design for realisation in the final are required. In the semifinal, practice rehearsals, concept discussions, feasibility tests and public presentations of the conceptions will take place in Graz.
Step 3: In the final, the specified part of the competition opera (act II from Ritornello before Orfeo: “Vi ricorda o boschi ombrosi” until act III, Sinfonia after Orfeo: “Rendetemi il mio ben, Tartare numi” – without the choruses of this section) will be realised on the stage of Schauspielhaus Graz with an allotted team of singers, accompanied by piano. Plans for set and costume design as well as the piano scores are required. The scenic rehearsals and the performances of the final will take place in Graz.
Registration is exclusively possible via the RING AWARD online portal. Entries can be submitted in German or English.
While the competition is open to various directorial approaches and scenic and musical experimentation (instrumentation, montage, cuts, external material) some regulations need to be observed: material from the original musical score must remain in the adapted version; the adaption needs to be performable on piano; generally the character of the competition opera must remain recognizable.
Documents to be submitted:
For uploads the following file formats apply: .pdf, .jpg and .png. Maximum file size is 25 MB.
Embedding links and videos in the PDFs is not permitted.
Anonymization: All entries are anonymized for the first assessment by the jury to avoid any prejudice or distortion of the competition. Please note that the names of the team members and all references that enable their identification (institutions, nations, etc.) must not appear anywhere in texts, pictures, etc. Failure to comply with this regulation will result in disqualification.
The production concept must comply with the following condition: sketches compatible with the main stage of Schauspielhaus Graz, taking into account the technical preconditions of the venue. The scenic realisation in the final will take place on the stage of Schauspielhaus Graz. The calculations must be based within the given budget under its conditions.
Plans can be downloaded here: plan .dwg, floor plan .pdf, stage cut .pdf
Prerequisite for participation in the final is the strict compliance with the allotted budget of:
EUR 24,000 for the set design
EUR 9,500 for the costume design
EUR 1,500 for make-up
These costs include VAT (20 %).
Attention: The maximum budget includes not only material costs, but also workshop costs (labour time).
The realisation of the designs for set and costume in the final will be carried out by the workshops of art + event | Theaterservice Graz. As a calculation aid, a gross hourly rate of EUR 96 for the set design and EUR 67 for the costume design can be used for the workshop costs.
Adherence to the budget framework is a key assessment criterion for the competition. Budget overruns are ground for exclusion and lead to the consideration of lower-ranked teams.
Participants agree that submitted project data may be published as part of the RING AWARD PR.
The participation fee is EUR 75 per team.
All payments must be free of charge to the recipient, i. e., participants must ensure that they pay all bank charges of the remitting bank and those of the receiving bank:
Theaterservice Graz GmbH
IBAN: AT18 2081 5000 0130 3395
BIC: STSPAT2G
Make payable to: RING AWARD 25
In case of justified financial hardship, the fee may be reduced. Informal applications to this effect (including evidence) may be sent to office@ringaward.com.
Each semifinal team will receive a recognition fee of EUR 2,500 for the participation in the semifinal. All travel and accommodation costs, regardless of the number of team members, are covered by this recognition fee.
Each final team will receive a recognition fee of EUR 7,000. All travel and accommodation costs, regardless of the number of team members, are covered by this recognition fee.
Registered teams will receive an e-mail confirming their participation once they have been admitted to the competition.
The competition participant guarantees that all submitted content does not infringe any currently effective law, in particular competition law or copyright law, and is free from any third-party rights.
Each participant in the competition explicitly consents to the collection, processing, storage on media and use of their personal data by the competition organiser for the purposes of implementation and follow-up processing of the RING AWARD competition.
Please note the complete information on data protection, rights and regulations on the submission platform.
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