2025 Edition – Competition rules « Le Poème Harmonique

2025 Edition – Competition rules

1. Competition overview

1.1 Presentation

The Normandy International Baroque Vocal Competition organized by Le Poème Harmonique provides young performers specialising in baroque music with the opportunity to gain public recognition from both audiences and prominent representatives of the international music scene, as a start to an international career.

Headed up by a jury of distinguished artists, professors and concert promoters, the Corneille Competition, now in it’s 7^th edition, has created partnerships which provide its laureates with numerous opportunities to perform, including in the Nouvelles Voix en Normandie tour, in addition to the monetary prizes.

Le Poème Harmonique continues its commitment to baroque repertoire by inviting the candidates to perform both famous and lesser-known works, thus encouraging the young musicians throughout the competition process to explore the very broad range of repertoire encompassed by the baroque period.

The Competition also provides a festive focus on baroque musique for the public of Normandy. The preliminary rounds, held over a period of several days, enable the audience to discover and enrich their knowledge of the repertoire through the diversity of the programmes. The competition fulfils a role of educating and entertaining at the same time as focussing on musical excellence and originality.

1.2 Venue

All rounds of the competition will take place at the Chapelle Corneille, in Rouen.
Chapelle Corneille – Auditorium de Normandie
28, rue Bourg-L’Abbé
76000 Rouen

PLEASE NOTE THAT NO DOCUMENT MUST BE SENT TO THIS ADDRESS.

1.3 Calendar

Rehearsals, welcome and draw for order of appearance: Wednesday September 24, 2025
First round: Thursday 25 September and Friday 26 September 2025
Second round: Saturday 27 September 2025
Final round: Sunday 28 September 2025

_____________________________________________

3. Eligibility

3.1 access conditions
The competition is open to candidates born after January 1, 1995.

3.2 Application period
Applications must be filed between March 12^th and June 24^th, 2025.

Procedure

Applications must be made through Le Poème Harmonique’s official website : http://www.lepoemeharmonique.fr/ (click Competition > Competition rules and application, and create an account).

Required documents:

– A recent coloured photograph, for use in the program and other promotional materials (the copyright must be mentioned in the file’s name) (image file)
– An official document that contains the applicant’s name, nationality and date of birth (a passport is recommended) (PDF or image file)
– A curriculum vitae (PDF);
– A signed authorization form for image rights;
– A biography in English and French (PDF file);
– A youtube, dailymotion or similar link to a video performance (see paragraph 4.2)

Applicants can add, delete or change materials as many times as they wish until the application period is over.
No changes will be possible after June 24th, 2025.

An exception to the age limit may be granted for artistic reasons.
A letter of motivation must be attached to the documents requested at the time of registration on the website. The registration fee will be refunded if the waiver is denied.

3.4 Application fee

€50 non-refundable on-line application fee.
No further fees will be required.

_____________________________________________

4. Preliminary selections

4.1 Pre-Selection process
The preliminary selection will be made from the video recordings presented on candidate’s account.

4.2 Pre-Selection Programme
Applicants must present a video recording (approximately 8-10 minutes) of two works from the 17th or 18th centuries.

One of the pieces must be in French.
One of the pieces must include vocalizes.

The video may be a live concert performance and may not necessarily be recorded specifically for the Competition. Material recorded in good technical and acoustic conditions is recommended.

4.3. Notification of results
The results of the preliminary selection will be published no later than Friday, July 25th, 2025.

Selected candidates must specify their chosen works for the three rounds of the competition and send the corresponding scores (piano vocal scores) to concours@lepoemeharmonique.fr by Monday, August 1^st 2025. (see paragraph 6).

Chosen works may not be common to several rounds of the competition.

_____________________________________________

5. Competition Participation

5.1 Candidate registration
Registration will take place at the Chapelle Corneille on Wednesday, September 24th, 2025. The order of appearance for the 1^st round will be drawn by lots on the evening of September 24^th.
In case of impossibility to participate, a proxy can be given to the person in charge of the competition for the draw.

5.2 Homestay accommodation
In order to minimize the cost of participation for contestants, Le Poème Harmonique offers homestay accommodation in Rouen.

Candidates who wish to benefit from this must include their request by Monday August 1^st.
Applications for homestay accommodation will be managed in order of reception.

5.3 Transportation
Transport costs from the candidate’s place of residence to Rouen are at the candidate’s expense.

5.4 Practice rooms and rehearsals
Candidates can benefit from a 15 minute run-through rehearsal with their accompanist at the Chapelle Corneille on Wednesday afternoon, September 24^th. Time slots will be assigned by the organization.

During the rounds of the Competition, practice rooms will be made available free of charge to the candidates. The allocation of slots will be made according to availability on the day in question.

Candidates selected for the final round will have a minimum of 30 minutes’ rehearsal time with the orchestra of Le Poème Harmonique on Sunday morning, September 28^th.

5.5 Order of appearance
The running order of the candidates will be drawn on the evening before the beginning of each round and may only be modified according to the logistical necessity, by decision of the Competition Manager.

5.6 Competition Repertoire

All the requested arias will be taken from works from the 17^th and 18th centuries. Details will be announced shortly.

_____________________________________________

6. Awards and Prizes

Prize awarded on the proposal of the jury :
First prize: 4 000 €
Second prize: 2 000 €

Audience Prize (voted by the public) :
Audience prize: 1 000 €

The Corneille Competition aims to promote the professional integration of candidates and winners, and seeks to develop opportunities for employment in partner structures. To this end, Le Poème Harmonique organises a tour of recitals in atypical and heritage venues in Normandy in July each year – Nouvelles Voix en Normandie. Some of the finalists will be invited to perform in this context.

For information, venues and events that have hosted the winners of the Corneille Competition following their participation since 2016:
Chapelle Corneille, Rouen (France), International Handel Festival, Karlsruhe (Germany) Münchner Residenz, Munich (Germany), Wiener Konzerthaus, Vienna (Austria), Grand Théâtre de Bordeaux (France), Théâtre impérial de Compiègne (France), Festival de musique baroque du Jura (France), Hôtel de Lauzun, Paris (France), Opéra royal de Versailles (France), Festival Opera Rara, Krakow (Poland), Zürich Opera (Switzerland).

NB: If a candidate is or has been a student of one of the members of the jury, the latter is obliged to declare this to the other members of the jury.
The decisions of the jury are final and without appeal.

_____________________________________________

7. Miscellaneous

7.1 Visas
Each contestant is responsible for applying for and acquiring his/her visa into France. INfiomration for these formalities can be obtained from the French Embassies or Consulates in their respective countries.

If a convocation to the competition, a certificate of registration or other documents are required to obtain the visa, Le Poème Harmonique will be able to provide them.

7.2 Copyright
For any performance that takes place during the Competition, Le Poème Harmonique reserves the right to:

Broadcast it on television, radio or the internet;

Record, film and photograph it and/or have others (including press, media and partners) record, film or photograph it, irrespective of whether the recording will be broadcasted or not;

Take recordings, photos or video which will be later used to produce printed materials, CDs, DVDs etc. for promotion and sales.

7.3 Protection of personal data
Personal data of applicants and contestants collected for the Competition will be managed by Le Poème Harmonique according to French law and will be used only for the operation of the Competition.

7.4 Legal guidelines
According to French taxation law, awards money is not subject to tax.
Any disputes that arise in connection with these Competition rules will be resolved according to the original French text of the Competition rules and French law.

7.5 Sanitary situation
The Competition undertakes to respect and ensure respect for the health standards in force on the date of the competition.

The Candidate undertakes to respect the health protocol that will be sent to him/her by the organizing team. In the event of cancellation of the Competition due to the health situation, no refund of registration fees or travel expenses will be made.

_____________________________________________