WORLD’S BEST MUSICIANS COMPETITION
Regulations
1. General Information
The World’s Best Musicians Competition is an international online competition open to musicians of all nationalities and ages.
The Competition is open to soloists, ensembles, conductors, composers and CD Album submissions.
Participation in the First Round is free of charge.
The Competition is conducted entirely online. No travel or accommodation is required.
2. Competition Structure
The Competition consists of two stages:
First Round (Preliminary Round)
Participation is free of charge.
The purpose of the First Round is to select participants who demonstrate sufficient artistic merit to advance to the Final Round.
Qualification to the Final Round is not automatic and depends solely on the artistic quality of the submitted performance.
Only participants invited by the Jury may proceed to the Final Round.
Final Round
Participants invited to the Final Round compete for Competition prizes and distinctions.
3. Competition Schedule
The Competition is held according to the following schedule:
- Until September 5 – First Round applications
- September 6–9 – Preliminary evaluation
- September 10 – Announcement of qualified finalists
- September 10–14 – Final Round registration
- September 15–19 – Final Round evaluation
- September 20 – Official announcement of results
4. Categories
The Competition accepts entries in the following categories:
• Composition
• Soloist (any instrument or voice)
• Conducting
• Ensemble (any combination of instruments and/or voices)
• CD Album
For organizational purposes, soloists are divided according to the instrument declared in the application (for example Piano, Violin, Saxophone, Flute, etc.).
The Competition may additionally classify participants into categories such as:
- Popular Music
- Traditional Music
The Organizing Committee reserves the right to:
- correct or modify the participant’s category;
- correct the declared instrument;
- correct the age group;
- reclassify a participant if the selected category does not correspond to the submitted performance;
- correct obvious errors contained in the application.
Such corrections shall not constitute grounds for appeal.
5. Age Groups
Age groups apply only to Soloists.
A – 8 years and younger
B – 9–10 years
C – 11–12 years
D – 13–14 years
E – 15–16 years
F – 17–18 years
G – 19–22 years
H – 23–26 years
I – 27–32 years
J – 33 years and older
Conductors and Ensembles participate without age groups.
Exceptionally young performers may receive special consideration during artistic evaluation.
Composers may submit recordings performed by themselves, another performer or computer software.
6. Applications
Each application is valid for one category only.
Participants wishing to compete in several categories must submit a separate application for each category.
If more than one application is submitted for the same category, only the most recently submitted application will be considered.
7. Video Requirements
Participants must submit a video recording through the official application form.
The submitted recording should clearly present the performance.
The recording may contain:
- a complete work;
- selected movements;
- one or more pieces.
The maximum duration of the submitted recording is 30 minutes.
Video editing is not permitted.
Simple introductory titles containing the participant’s name, composer and repertoire are permitted.
The recording may be:
- solo;
- accompanied;
- partially accompanied.
The description of the recording should contain:
- participant’s name;
- composer;
- title of the work.
Videos must be available as Public or Unlisted.
Private recordings cannot be evaluated.
Participants are responsible for providing recordings of sufficient audio and video quality.
The Organizing Committee reserves the right to reject recordings that cannot be fairly evaluated due to technical deficiencies.
8. First Round
The First Round serves exclusively as a qualification stage.
During this stage the Jury determines whether a participant should advance to the Final Round.
The Jury evaluates performances according to overall artistic quality using a simple qualification decision:
QUALIFIED
or
NOT QUALIFIED
During the First Round the Jury may listen to the complete recording or only selected excerpts if considered sufficient for making its decision.
Only performances meeting the artistic standard established by the Jury will receive an invitation to the Final Round.
9. Final Round Evaluation
The Final Round follows an absolute evaluation system.
Participants are evaluated according to artistic standards rather than ranked against other competitors.
Each performance is assessed according to the following criteria:
- Musicality
- Quality of performance
- Faithfulness to the musical score and stylistic awareness
- Technical proficiency
- Stage presentation and artistic expression
Each criterion is scored from 0 to 5 points, giving a maximum possible score of 25 points.
10. Award Score Thresholds
The Final Round is evaluated on a maximum scale of 25 points.
Based on the final score awarded by the Jury, participants may receive the following distinctions:
| Final Score | Award |
| 25 points | Absolute Winner |
| 24 points | 1st Prize with Outstanding Laureate Title |
| 22–23 points | First Prize |
| 20–21 points | Second Prize |
| 18–19 points | Third Prize |
| 16–17 points | Honorable Mention |
The Jury is not obliged to award the maximum score of 25 points in any category or Competition edition.
Consequently, the title of Absolute Winner may not be awarded if, in the opinion of the Jury, no performance reaches the exceptional artistic standard required for this distinction.
Similarly, the Jury is not obliged to award the 1st Prize with Outstanding Laureate Title in every category or Competition edition.
The Competition follows an absolute evaluation system. Awards are granted according to the artistic quality of each performance and not according to the number of participants within a category or age group.
Being the only participant in a category or age group does not automatically entitle a participant to receive the highest available award.
11. Awards
Depending on the artistic level demonstrated and the final score awarded by the Jury, the following distinctions may be awarded:
- Absolute Winner
- 1st Prize with Outstanding Laureate Title
- First Prize
- Second Prize
- Third Prize
- Honorable Mention
The Jury may award the same distinction to more than one participant.
The Jury is not obliged to award the Absolute Winner title, the 1st Prize with Outstanding Laureate Title, or any other particular distinction in every category or Competition edition.
The purpose of the Competition is to recognize artistic achievement according to an absolute standard rather than to rank participants against one another within individual categories.
12. Laureate Benefits and Universal Maestro Society Recognition
Every Final Round participant receives an official digital diploma.
All laureates of the Competition are officially published:
- on the Competition Winners page, with their full name, country and awarded distinction;
- in the Results section of Universal Maestro Society (ums.art) as part of the official record of the Competition results.
Certificates for teachers and accompanists are available upon request.
Recipients of the Absolute Winner title and the 1st Prize with Outstanding Laureate Title receive additional recognition, including:
- prominent presentation with their photograph in the official Competition results on ums.art;
- a permanent individual UMS Laureate Profile on ums.art, presenting the artist and their recognized achievements;
- inclusion of their Competition achievement in their UMS Laureate Profile;
- publication in the Universal Maestro Society News section;
- eligibility to participate in the Winners’ Online Concert, when organized.
A UMS Laureate Profile is an individual artist profile and may contain recognized achievements from multiple competitions and editions. If an eligible artist already has a UMS Laureate Profile, the new Competition achievement is added to the existing profile rather than creating a separate profile.
Recipients of the First Prize, Second Prize, Third Prize and Honorable Mention are included in the official Competition Winners page and in the Results section of ums.art.
These distinctions do not automatically result in the creation of a new individual UMS Laureate Profile. However, if the laureate already has an existing UMS Laureate Profile, the new Competition achievement is added to that profile, creating a continuing record of the artist’s recognized achievements.
Additionally, Absolute Winners may participate in an interview for Maestro Magazine.
Participation in the interview is voluntary. Absolute Winners wishing to participate should contact the Organizing Committee within 30 days of the official announcement of the Competition results.
After this period, publication in Maestro Magazine cannot be guaranteed.
13. Jury
Participants are evaluated by an international Jury consisting of distinguished musicians.
To ensure impartiality, the identities of Jury members are not published.
If a participant is a current student of one of the jurors, that juror does not evaluate the participant.
Each category is evaluated by at least three jurors.
Jury decisions are final and irrevocable.
The distinction awarded by the Jury constitutes the participant’s official Competition result.
Participants may not request that a different prize, distinction or title be awarded in place of the one officially granted by the Jury.
No appeals regarding artistic evaluation, scores, prizes or distinctions will be considered.
14. Final Round Administrative Fee
Participation in the Final Round requires payment of an administrative fee of 88 EUR.
Payment instructions are sent only to participants invited to the Final Round.
The administrative fee covers the artistic evaluation of the participant’s performance by the Jury.
The administrative fee is non-refundable.
Dissatisfaction with the Jury’s artistic evaluation, the distinction awarded or the publication of the official Competition results shall not constitute grounds for a refund.
14. Copyright and Promotion
By entering the Competition, participants grant the Organizing Committee a non-exclusive, royalty-free licence to publish submitted biographies, photographs and recordings for purposes directly related to the Competition, including publication on the Competition website, Universal Maestro Society, Maestro Magazine, social media and promotional materials.
Participants retain full copyright to their submitted materials.
15. Liability
By entering the Competition, participants confirm that they hold all necessary rights to the submitted materials.
The participant releases the Organizing Committee, Jury members and partners from liability arising from participation in the Competition or acceptance of any award.
16. Acceptance of the Regulations
Submission of an application constitutes full acceptance of these Regulations.
The Organizing Committee reserves the right to interpret these Regulations and to amend them whenever necessary.