Vocal Competition

We are excited to bring you this years’ Royal South Street Vocal Competition.  With a range of new sections and some significantly increased prize money, we are hoping to breathe new life into this iconic eisteddfod and encourage performers across a wide range of genres.  From our youngest competitors at 10 years and Under right through to our competitors in 18 years and over, we are offering contemporary sections in Upbeat Pop/Rock, Country, Stage and Screen, Jazz/Blues/Soul/Gospel and Contemporary Ballad.   For our classical performers, we have included a Pre-1960’s Classic Theatre song, alongside Classical Vocal Solo.  We are also trialling a range of new ‘Special Sections’ including Operetta and Enduring Classics, Sacred and Oratorio, Lieder and Art Song and for the first time, some standard based exam sections for Beginner, Intermediate and Advanced.  We will continue with our very popular Duet/Trio section and ‘Strut Your Stuff’!

Sally Bourne Music Theatre Prize: For the second year running, we are so thrilled to offer a one-hour coaching session with a top industry professional to the singers in each age group (except for 10 years and Under) who show the best contrast, vocal ability and characterisation in both Stage and Screen Sections.  Our industry professionals for 2022 are;

Sally Bourne, Vicky Jacobs, Mark Jones, Melissa Langton.

Special Prizes: Don’t forget to check out our other special prizes and awards including aggregate prizes for each age group and encouragement awards.

Masterclass Series:  For our VCE singers, we now include Unit ½ and Unit ¾ in both Classical and Contemporary, Investigation and VCE VET Music Industry performance.  This section will be followed by a free Masterclass session for all competitors, and we welcome anyone to attend.

Our ‘Original Song’ section will also be followed by a masterclass, run by Songwriting Masterclass Industry Specialists George and Geoffrey Williams.

George and Geoffrey Williams are songwriters, improvisers, and video makers who have worked with students at primary, secondary and tertiary school levels. Geoffrey is currently Pop Song Writing lecturer at the Victorian College of the Arts and teaches contemporary voice at Ballarat Grammar. They have led community choirs, written hundreds of songs with albums on major labels including for Michael Jackson. George and Geoffrey have also created an online songwriting course Tap Your Creativity – Lyrics on the Udemy platform and last year, they created the Virtual Soul Choir in response to the isolating effects of the pandemic and have a wealth of experience in leading songwriting workshops, performance, video editing and sound production.

Our adjudicators for 2022 are Vicky Jacobs and Susan-Ann Walker, both have training in classical and contemporary styles and are both actively working in the entertainment industry.

Adjudication will be based on the following criteria.

  • 20 points – Intonation
  • 10 points – Vocal Technique
  • 10 points – Rhythm / Phrasing
  • 10 points – Diction / Articulation
  • 10 points – Appropriate Song Choice
  • 10 points – Stylistic Markers of the genre
  • 10 points – Story Telling / Authenticity
  • 10 points – Presentation / Poise / Focus
  • 10 points – Musicality / Interpretation

We can’t wait to see you all back in the theatre for a live competition this year.  In the event of a forced lockdown, we will revert to an online competition, but lets all cross our fingers that we remain open.  If the beginning of 2022 is anything to go by, we are all feeling extremely positive.

A huge thank you to our 2022 prize money and medal sponsors.  Due to their generosity and support, for the first time we are excited to be able to offer prize money for 1st, 2nd and 3rd in every section.

SILVER CROWN SPONSORS

  • Henkell Family Fund @ Australia Community Foundation
  • Opus 50 Charitable Trust
  • Caine Real Estate

BRONZE CROWN SPONSORS

  • Optiform
  • Field Air Ballarat
  • The Provincial Hotel Ballarat
  • BLOC

ENCORE SPONSORS

  • Ryans IGA
  • Ballarat Vocal Studio
  • The Shine Centre
  • Coward-Lemke School of Music
  • Chris Gardner

SPOTLIGHT SPONSORS

  • Anonymous for the Marjorie Davies Encouragement Prize
  • BCMA – Ballarat Centre of Music and the Arts
  • Naomi Harrison Estate
  • Elsie Morrison Memorial Trust
  • Anita Stapp
  • ANATS Victoria
  • William Morrell Trust
  • Suttons House of Music
  • Robyn Antoine
  • Ballarat Allied Health
  • Crossroads Music
  • National Hair Tech Solutions
  • Homeground Café & Bakery
  • Linda Jean Dancing Academy
  • Spot on Pots and Nursery

FOOTLIGHT SPONSORS

  • Val Coad
  • Juliana Addison
  • RJM’s Wine Bar

If you, or anyone you know, is interested in becoming a sponsor, please contact the RSSS office.  As a charitable organisation, all donations and sponsorships are tax deductible.

See you at the comps!

From the Vocal Committee (Carolyn, Jason and Peter)