ABOUT THE ATC

ELIGIBILITY

ANY SINGER BORN BEFORE FEBRUARY 20, 2006 IS ELIGIBLE TO APPLY TO THE AMERICAN TRADITIONS VOCAL COMPETITION. WE PRIDE OURSELVES ON BEING ONE OF THE ONLY SINGING COMPETITIONS WITH NO UPPER AGE LIMIT.

THERE ARE A FEW EXCEPTIONS:

  • ALL ATC GOLD MEDALISTS ARE INELIGIBLE TO COMPETE, AS THEY HAVE PREVIOUSLY WON THE COMPETITION.

  • SINGERS MAY ONLY COMPETE IN SAVANNAH, GA THREE TIMES IN EVERY FIVE YEARS.

THERE ARE NO OTHER ELIGIBILITY GUIDELINES. PERFORMERS FROM ANY COUNTRY ARE WELCOME TO APPLY AND COMPETE, SO LONG AS THEY OFFER AND PERFORM SELECTIONS BY COMPOSERS HOLDING UNITED STATES CITIZENSHIP.

REPERTOIRE

THE AMERICAN TRADITIONS VOCAL COMPETITION REQUIRES SINGERS TO CREATE THREE ROUNDS OF THREE DIFFERENT SONGS, ALL WRITTEN BY AMERICAN COMPOSERS.  EACH SONG MUST REPRESENT A DIFFERENT GENRE FOR A TOTAL OF NINE.  THE POINT OF THIS IS FOR SINGERS TO LEARN ABOUT DIFFERENT GENRES OF MUSIC - THE HISTORY, THE ROOTS, THE KEY PLAYERS, THE STYLISTIC NUANCE - OF EACH GENRE.  WE STRONGLY ENCOURAGE YOU TO DELVE DEEPLY INTO THE GENRES AND MAKE INTERESTING, UNIQUE SELECTIONS.

What are the genres of American music that the American Traditions Vocal Competition recognizes?

Americana, Art Song, Blues, Country, Folk, Gospel. Great American Songbook, Hollywood, Jazz, Musical Theatre, Opera, Popular Music of 1950-1980, Religious, Songs of Johnny Mercer, Singer-Songwriters 1980-Today, Spirituals, Story Songs.

WHAT IS AMERICANA? THIS CATEGORY IS MEANT TO ENCOMPASS PATRIOTISM, AS WELL AS AMERICa’s musical ROOTS. REPRESENTING THE MUSIC OF THE TIN PAN ALLEY, THE EARLY AMERICAN PARLOR SONGS, STEPHEN FOSTER’S CLASSICS (OH! SUSANNAH, JEANIE WITH THE LIGHT BROWN HAIR, BEAUTIFUL DREAMER, ETC), AND PATRIOTIC AMERICAN HYMNODY, SUCH AS, “AMERICA, THE BEAUTIFUL,” OR “MY COUNTRY, ‘TIS OF THEE.” PLEASE REACH OUT WITH ANY QUESTIONS TO OUR ARTISTIC DIRECTOR, AS THIS IS A VERY MUSICALLY SPACIOUS, YET SPECIFIC CATEGORY.

What does “Hollywood” mean? Hollywood is a specific category to focus in on music written for - specifically for - a movie or a tv show. This means “listen” from Dreamgirls because it was written for the movie, but not “And I Am Telling You,” as it already existed in the show. That means themes from movies like “Laura” or Disney songs, or themes to tv shows like The Partridge Family, or My Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, Little Voice, Smash. Please research your ideas on this category, we don’t want to tell you that you cannot perform your dream song because you did not check it out first.

WHAT MAKES MUSIC “AMERICAN,” ACCORDING TO THE AMERICAN TRADITIONS VOCAL COMPETITION?

  • FOR OUR PURPOSES, AN “AMERICAN” COMPOSER IS A NATURAL-BORN CITIZEN OF THE UNITED STATES, OR A UNITED STATES CITIZEN WHO HAS BEEN NATURALIZED AS SUCH. ALL WORK FROM A NATURALIZED U.S. CITIZEN MUST OCCUR AFTER THEIR NATURALIZATION TO QUALIFY AS AN AMERICAN SONG. NATURALIZED COMPOSERS INCLUDE IRVING BERLIN (1918), RICHARD HAGEMAN (1925), ARNOLD SCHOENBERG (1941), ERICH KORNGOLD (1943), KURT WEILL (1943), ANDRE PREVIN (1943), TANIA LEON (1973) AND MANY, MANY OTHERS.

  • ORIGINAL COMPOSITIONS ARE ACCEPTED FOR THIS COMPETITIOn, only when they neatly fit in a pre-existing category.

  • THE FOLLOWING ARE COMMONLY MISTAKEN TO BE AMERICAN COMPOSERS OR WORKS, AS THEY HAVE BECOME PART OF THE COLLECTIVE OF THE AMERICAN MUSICAL CANON, BUT THEY ARE NOT ACCEPTED: ADELE, JONI MITCHELL, LEONARD COHEN, DAVID FOSTER PRIOR TO 2000, ANDREW LLOYD WEBBER, GIAN CARLO MENOTTI, THE BEATLES, ELTON JOHN'S AIDA, LES MISÉRABLES, MISS SAIGON, "PURE IMAGINATION", DAVID BOWIE, STING. WHEN IN DOUBT, WE RECOMMEND GOOGLE!

  • A SINGER MAY CHOOSE TO PERFORM UP TO ONE (1) SONG IN THEIR ENTIRE OFFERING THAT IS WRITTEN IN A LANGUAGE OTHER THAN ENGLISH. THE COMPOSER OF THAT SONG MUST BE A NATURAL-BORN OR NATURALIZED AMERICAN CITIZEN. PLEASE BEAR IN MIND THAT THERE WILL BE NO TRANSLATION PROVIDED ON THE CONTESTANT’S BEHALF, AND IT FALLS UPON THE PERFORMER TO PROVIDE AN EXPLANATION OF THE SONG, IF THE CONTESTANT FEELS IT IS NECESSARY.

  • APPLICANTS MAY CHOOSE TO PERFORM UP TO ONE (1) SONG IN THEIR ENTIRE OFFERING THAT IS SELF-ACCOMPANIED. THIS SONG MUST BE NOTED ON THE APPLICATION, AND MAY ONLY BE PERFORMED ON PIANO. THIS SONG MAY OCCUR IN ANY ROUND OF COMPETITION.

The ATC retains a strict “Do Not Sing List.” Songs end up here because they either do not serve singers in competition settings, they are low-hanging fruit, in terms of unique repertoire choices, or they are over-programmed for several years in a row at our competition. Please do not sing from the below list of songs:

Moon River

Flight, by Craig Carnelia

Over The Rainbow

The Girl In 14-G

Maybe This Time (Cabaret)

At Last

God Bless the U.S.A.

Summertime

Gimme, Gimme (Thoroughly Modern Millie)

SCORING

SCORING FOR THE AMERICAN TRADITIONS VOCAL COMPETITION IS NON-CUMULATIVE. THEREFORE, EACH ROUND IS SCORED SEPARATELY. PERFORMERS ARE SCORED ON THREE CRITERIA - TECHNIQUE, DIVERSITY OF PROGRAM, AND ARTISTRY, ON A SCALE OF 1-10. A PERFECT SCORE FOR ANY GIVEN ROUND IS 30, OR A SCORE OF 10 GIVEN BY EACH JUDGE. SCORES FOR SPECIALTY AWARDS ARE SEPARATE FROM OVERALL SCORES.  ADDITIONALLY, THERE ARE STRICT TIME LIMITS OF 12 MINUTES, 14 MINUTES, AND 16 MINUTES FOR EACH PROGRESSING ROUND.  ANY SINGER WHO GOES OVER THE TIME LIMIT WILL BE DEDUCTED 1 POINT PER MINUTE.

APPLICATIONS

A COMPLETE APPLICATION FOR THE AMERICAN TRADITIONS VOCAL COMPETITION CONSISTS OF THE FOLLOWING:

  • APPLICATION FEE (YOU WILL BE PROMPTED AT THE END OF THE APPLICATION)

  • A COMPLETED APPLICATION FORM (FOUND AT THE BOTTOM OF The application PAGE)

  • THREE UPLOADED AUDIO FILES (PLEASE USE MP3 - IT IS PREFERRED)

    • UPLOADED AUDIO FILES SHOULD REPRESENT THE POTENTIAL QUARTERFINAL ROUND OF MUSIC, AND SHOULD MATCH WHAT IS WRITTEN IN THE SINGER'S APPLICATION FORM FOR THEIR QUARTERFINAL ROUND OFFERINGS. THIS IS THE PROGRAM YOU WOULD PRESENT IN THE LIVE QUARTERFINAL ROUND.

    • AUDIO FILES SHOULD BE RECORDED WITH ACCOMPANIMENT, UNLESS PURPOSEFULLY A CAPELLA, AND SHOULD BE OF A GOOD QUALITY. PLEASE USE YOUR BEST JUDGEMENT - MAKE SURE TO WATCH FOR MIC LEVELS PEAKING SO WE RECEIVE CLEAR AUDIO. RECORDINGS SHOULD BE FAIRLY RECENT.

    • ALL UPLOADED FILES MUST BE NAMED IN A FORMAT SIMILAR TO THAT OF THEIR APPLICATION.

      • EX: SONG TITLE_COMPOSER_GENRE_SINGER’S LAST NAME

COMPETITION INFORMATION

Applications will open April 15, 2023 and close 12am EST at the end of Sunday, October 8, 2023.  Applicants will be notified of their result no later than 10pm on November 18, 2023

Our 30th annual competition will take place from February 19-23, 2024!

New this year:

  • We have partnered with Plant Riverside District, Savannah’s entertainment district as well as a J.W. Marriott hotel with a LiveNation venue on property!

  • Each singer will have pickup/dropoff offered to and from the Savannah airport (We cannot guarantee transportation from other airports, such as Hilton Head, Jacksonville, or Charleston. These airports will be your responsibility to find transportation to and from). Most major and some smaller airlines fly into Savannah, so flights should be quite accessible.

  • Each singer will be given a reimbursement of $300 if they do not advance in the competition, and will be given a daily per diem for their own use while in Savannah.

SPECIAL AWARDS:

  • $1000 The Robert Sims Concert Spiritual Award. for BEST PERFORMANCE OF A SPIRITUAL. Robert Sims, the 1999 Gold Medalist of the ATC, has dedicated his life and career to the canon of American Spirituals. Wanting to see his work continue and flourish, he has furnished this named award to promote more performances of Spirituals, a bedrock of American music, in the ATC. This award is only eligible for songs programmed in the Quarterfinal or Semifinal Rounds.

  • $750 The Johnny Mercer Award for BEST JOHNNY MERCER PERFORMANCE. Johnny Mercer is a native of Savannah and is often referred to as “Savannah’s son.” He is not only the founder of Capitol Records, but was a prolific songwriter, winning Oscars for his songs as they appeared in many films. A river in Savannah was even named the Moon River after his very famous song. This award is only eligible for songs programmed in the Quarterfinal or Semifinal Rounds. Additional information on finding unique song choices by Johnny can be found in the Johnny Mercer Collection.

  • $500 The Toian Bowser-Alexander Award is an award given in memory of Mrs. Toian Alexander, the first treasurer of our organization. This award is sponsors by Mr. James Edward Alexander, her husband. Both James and Toian were moved by the spirit of this competition and the camaraderie between the contestants. In that vein, this award will be voted on by the contestants to reward a fellow singer who exhibits helpfulness to others, encouragement, and supportiveness - someone who embodies the heart of this very unique vocal competition.

  • $500 The Sherrill Milnes American Opera Award for BEST OPERATIC PERFORMANCE. This award is given in honor of Sherrill Milnes to the singers who best performs an operatic selection. This award is only eligible for songs programmed in the Quarterfinal and Semifinal Rounds.

  • $500 The Ben Tucker Jazz Award for BEST JAZZ PERFORMANCE. This award is bestowed by Mrs. Gloria Tucker in honor of her late husband’s legacy and impact on the world of jazz music. This award is only eligible for songs programmed in the Quarterfinal and Semifinal Rounds.

  • $500 (2) The Richard Chambless People’s Choice Awards are presented on behalf of the audience to one Quarterfinalist and one Semifinalist who do not advance to the next round.

READY TO APPLY?