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The World Choir Games are open to all non-professional and amateur choirs from around the world. Except for conductors, all singers must be amateurs (meaning they do not earn their living through professional singing). There are categories for equal voices, mixed voices, chamber ensembles, and senior choirs across different age brackets. Important for age limits: In categories with age limits, a maximum of 20% of the singers may exceed or fall below the limits by up to 5 years.

The Champions Competition is designed for experienced competitive choirs with proven national or international credentials. Ensembles are evaluated by a panel of 7 international experts on a 100-point scale, and awards are given in gold, silver, and bronze medals.

The Open Competition welcomes all amateur choirs regardless of their previous competition experience ("Participation is the highest honor"). Ensembles are evaluated by 5 experts on a 30-point scale, receiving Bronze, Silver, or Gold Diplomas (levels 1-10).

Yes, absolutely! Choirs can take part in non-competitive evaluation and festival formats:

• Evaluation Performance (Beratungsrunde): Present a 15-minute program (3 pieces) in front of an international expert panel to receive constructive pedagogical feedback and recommendations in an amicable atmosphere.
• Individual Coaching (Probe mit internat. Dirigent*in): Rehearse a prepared piece with a renowned choral expert to gain fresh artistic ideas and develop your choir's sound.
• Friendship Concerts (Freundschaftskonzerte): Perform in free public concerts at outdoor and indoor venues across Linz and Upper Austria alongside other international ensembles.

An "activity" refers to participation in one competition category, an Evaluation Performance (Beratungsrunde), an Individual Coaching, or a Festival-only concert series. Choirs and conductors can register for a maximum of two activities per part of the event (Part 1 runs from July 21-25; Part 2 from July 27-31). Choirs participating in competition or evaluation categories receive one Friendship Concert performance free of charge.

Crucial category and registration rules:

• General vs. Thematic Categories: A choir can only participate in one of the General Categories (1–10, e.g., Children's Choir, Mixed Adult Choir). However, they can freely combine this with multiple Thematic Categories (11–20, e.g., Sacred Choral Music, Jazz, Pop).
• Consistent Level: Choirs participating in multiple categories must register all categories on the same level (either all in The Open Competition or all in The Champions Competition).
• Consistent Line-up: The choir's singer line-up must remain virtually identical across all categories performed.
• Conductor Limit: A conductor may only conduct one choir within a single competition category, though conducting in different categories is allowed.

Yes. For security, liability, and organizational reasons, booking accommodation through authorized partners of the event (Event Packages) is a mandatory condition of participation for all choirs located beyond a 150 km driving distance of Linz. Choirs residing within the 150 km radius who commute daily pay a localized per-person Participant Fee instead of the Event Package.

To register, you must submit the completed registration forms, pay the registration fee, upload a recent choir biography (in English) and high-resolution photo, and provide a sound recording of at least three pieces (a cappella preferred, not older than 2 years). For participation in The Champions Competition, you must also provide proof of qualification (e.g., being listed in the Top 500 of the INTERKULTUR World Ranking, or having won a Gold Medal/Diploma since 2022).

For competition or evaluation activities, you must also send printed music scores by mail (7 copies for Champions, 5 for Open, 3 for Evaluation, 1 for Coaching). Digital scores (PDFs) will not be accepted.