INTRODUCTION
Welcome to the East Coast A cappella Summit High School Competition! This is an opportunity for the best high school groups to compete for trophies and bragging rights! The winner also gets to open at the East Coast Summit's main event on Saturday Night!

The 2008 Competition was held Saturday March 8, 2008 at 2PM in the main concert hall at South Lakes High School in Reston, VA at the East Coast A cappella Summit .

FEES
There is no fee for entering the competition, though all participants must purchase weekend passes. Discounts are available for groups of 10 or more.

WHO MAY ENTER
Any group consisting exclusively of high school students of (almost) any size, style or composition may enter this contest. Performers may compete in more than one group.

WHO MAY CONDUCT
Student or non-student directors may conduct from on or off-stage if they desire. However groups who choose to do so should be aware that many judges view conductors (student or non-student) as negatively impacting a group’s performance. Only you can decide if the positive musical effects outweigh the potential “detraction” to your group’s performance. A non-student conductor may speak in between songs if they wish, but they may not sing or otherwise contribute musically other than by conducting.

SIZE REQUIREMENTS
Groups may be of any size from a minimum of just 1 person, up to a maximum limited only by the reasonable restrictions of the performance space as determined by the producers. As a guideline, most stages can easily accommodate a choir of 100 or more. If you wish to bring a group of 25 or more, contact the producers and your group will be accommodated.

TIMING
Groups shall perform for 8 minutes or less.

Timing shall begin with the first deliberate sung or spoken utterance, choreography or blowing of a pitch and shall run continuously through applause and performance until the last deliberate sung or spoken utterance, choreography or blowing of a pitch.

Technical difficulties causing delays will be credited to the performers so that the group receives their originally allotted time.

Groups may use their time to perform as many or as few songs as they wish.

Groups shall not be penalized for ending on time or under time.

Groups may be penalized for going over their allotted time, at the discretion of the judges.

Groups are advised to plan time for brief applause after each song.

PERFORMANCE ORDER
All competing groups will receive the order in which they are performing upon arrival.

Performance order will be determined at the sole discretion of the producers who may take into account any number of factors in programming including last minute travel emergencies, technical set up requirements and creating an enjoyable and entertaining program order from an objective audience perspective.

JUDGING
Each judge shall rate each group according to the following scale:

40% technical merit: blend, tone, intonation, rhythmic accuracy and rhythmic feel, difficulty of material

60% artistic merit: originality and artistry of arrangement, composition and performance.

Judges shall rate performances in a genre neutral manner, showing no favoritism towards any genre (classical, jazz, pop, punk, hip-hop, etc.) over another.

Repertoire and choreography should be appropriate for family audiences. Failure to adhere to this rule may result in penalty or disqualification, at the discretion of the producers.

All performances must be completely a cappella and no instruments or percussion of any kind are permitted, with the exception of pitch pipes or similar devices used solely to generate a starting pitch.

REQUIRED INFORMATION
Upon arrival, groups will supply the judges and producers with set lists indicating:
1) Title of the piece
2) Composer
3) Arranger
4) Soloists
5) Vocal Percussionists
6) Whether the piece is an original song or arrangement
7) Contact information including email and phone

JUDGING PROCEDURE
After the completion of the performances, the judges shall confer with one another privately and each shall exercise one vote towards each award. The applicant with the most votes shall be declared the winner at the conclusion of the concert. If there is a tie, then the summit producer(s) or one of them shall exercise a tie-breaking power to decide the issue.

The judges shall make their written comments available to the competitors and shall endeavor to keep their comments in such form as to be constructive to the participants. Please notify one of the Summit producers if you wish to have judge’s comments and scoring sent to you.

SOUND
Up to 8 microphones may be provided at the competitions. Mics may be wireless or wired. Groups may perform on mic or off mic at their discretion. Additional sound equipment, including effects, may be used if approved by the producers and made available to all performers at their sound check.

Requests regarding mixing and effects made to the sound engineer will be honored where possible, including the request to enhance bass, vocal percussion, leads or to “use your best judgment”. In the absence of any contrary instructions, the engineer will be instructed to provide microphone responses of approximately equal volume and NOT to do any mixing which would affect the balance of parts during the show.

A sound check is not absolutely guaranteed. If a sound check is provided, all groups shall have approximately the same amount of time to sound check.

Like performance order, sound check order will be determined by the Producers at their sole discretion.

CONFLICTS OF INTEREST
Judges must disclose to producers in advance, any potential conflicts of interest, which could be reasonably perceived as projecting even the appearance of impropriety.

The following shall not be considered conflicts:
Judge is affiliated with the same school as a competitor.
Judge has arranged or composed material for competitor, even if for a fee.

RANKING
A director may request of the producers at any time before the awards are announced on stage, to have their group receive comments only and not to be ranked. Such a request may forfeit a group’s ability to win awards, if any. The producers may in their discretion announce only the top ranking groups.

CONDUCT
All participants and judges agree to abide by the highest ethical standards and not to publicly criticize the participants (other than in written and verbal performance comments), judges, producers, staff, decisions or rules of this competition, but instead to direct any statements to the producers in private correspondence.

MERCHANDISE
At the discretion of the producers, groups may sell merchandise immediately following their show. Please notify Summit producers if your group wishes to sell merchandise.

ORIGINAL SONGS AND ARRANGEMENTS
An arrangement may be noted as “original” if prepared for the group by a member of the group or if prepared solely for the exclusive use of the group.
A song may be noted as original only if written in whole or in part by a member of the group.

PRODUCERS’ DISCRETION
Any open issues, vague or confusing terms, or disagreements of any kind relating to this competition shall be resolved by the producers in their sole discretion and their determination shall be final and binding on all persons.

RIGHTS
By performing and competing, and by accepting the benefits of publicity derived from appearing in the event, which all parties agree is of value, and by accepting any awards, if any, all participants agree to abide by these rules and that CASA has the following rights in addition to any others which it may have:

CASA may use the name and likeness of any group or any of its members or directors or other supporting persons to promote a cappella generally, to promote CASA, or to promote any of CASA’s programs or materials.

CASA may record in analog or digital video, photograph, audio or by any other means, the group and/or its members and support persons for archival, promotional or distribution, whether digital or analog, whereby all proceeds shall be paid to CASA or another 501(c)(3) not for profit organization.

All participants agree to hold CASA harmless and indemnify CASA from any and all claims which may arise in connection with the East Coast A cappella Summit.

RECOMMENDED READING
This article is recommended reading for competitors: Top Ten A cappella Competition Rookie Mistakes