Guidelines for Children's Singing Competition Savonlinnan Mestarilaulajat 2026
1) Competition Information and Goals
Savonlinnan Mestarilaulajat organises a singing competition for your singers. The competition aims to
showcase talented singers and to promote children's music and its performers in Finland.
2) Who Can Enter
The competition is open to singers who are citizens of Finland or any other EU country.
There are two age categories in the competition:
- children born between the years 2016 and 2018
- children born between the years 2014 and 2015
3) Registration and Competition Process
Registration for the competition is done via an online form, starting on January 1, 2026. The recording must be sent as an audio file via email to heidi.laasanen(at)linnala.fi. The registration deadline is January 31, 2026. Participants must provide the following information upon registration. Late registrations will not be accepted.
The application must include:
- Performer's name, date of birth, and contact information
- A sample of singing as an audio file. The mandatory song for all participants is the first two verses of the folk song On suuri sun rantas autius (approx. 1 minute) in Finnish, performed without accompaniment (a cappella). The song may be sung in any key.
Applicants will be notified by February 13, 2026 about their possible advancement to the semifinals. Those who qualify must submit their song selections, including composer and lyricist details, via an online form for the final weekend—both for the semifinals and the finals.
- The song list for the competition, submitted to the jury, must include the composer's and lyricist's names, the song title, any opus number, and any song cycle name. If the repertoire includes songs with lyrics in languages other than Finnish or Swedish, translations of these songs into Finnish must be submitted along with the registration.
- Sheet music for possible premieres as a PDF attachment
If necessary, the jury may request sheet music for rarer works from the participants for review.
4) Competition Jury
The jury consists of a voting chairperson and four voting members (1+4). If the chairperson is unavailable, the jury will elect a vice-chairperson from among its members. The chairperson has been pre-selected, as well as the jury/competition secretary. Savonlinna Mestarilaulajat chooses the competition jury.
5) Role of the Jury
The jury listens to all singers accepted into the semifinals, determines who will advance to the finals, and awards the prizes.
6) Evaluation Principles
1. A jury member's evaluation will only be considered if they have listened to all competition performances.
2. Any potential conflicts of interest, including students of jury members, will be addressed at the jury meeting before the competition begins. Jury members will not evaluate their own students. Singers who have participated in a jury member's masterclass or similar short courses are not considered to be students of that jury member.
3. Each singer is given a score between 1 and 10 (with 10 given if there are ten singers in the semifinals, where the best performer receives 10, the next 9, and so on). After the finals, voting will follow the same procedure, with each singer receiving a score from 1 to 6. In the event of a tie between two or more singers, the chairperson's vote will decide. Both the semifinal and final performances will be considered in the evaluation. Jury members vote independently, and no discussions about the performances take place during the voting. During the competition, jury members do not make public statements about individual performances or comment on the jury's work. The chairperson has the right to observe the vote count. An Excel spreadsheet )will be used for the calculation.
7) Evaluation Criteria
We are specifically looking for the following qualities in the performers:
- Potential for the future
- Musicality
- Artistic expression and connection with the audience
- Skilled singing
- Healthy voice use
- Clear articulation
8) Feedback
Written feedback will be provided within two weeks to those who do not advance to the finals. The jury will be available immediately after the finals to give oral feedback and, if necessary, also provide written feedback within two weeks.
9) Presentation Style
The songs in the semifinals and finals must be performed from memory without a microphone, either with the accompaniment of an acoustic instrument or without accompaniment. The accompanist must always be separate; the participant cannot accompany themselves. A piano accompanist can be requested from Linnala, for a fee of 30 €/day.
10) Semifinals
The mandatory song for all participant in the semifinals is the first two verses of the folk song On suuri sun rantas autius (approx. 1 minute) in Finnish, performed without accompaniment (a cappella). The song may be sung in any key. In addition, each participant can perform 1–2 freely chosen songs, making sure that the total performance time does not exceed 5 minutes.
11) Finals
The singer who advances to the finals will perform 2 freely chosen songs, and these must be different from the ones performed in the semifinals.
12) Duration of Song Performances
The total duration of song performances in the
semifinals is 5 minutes.
The total duration of song performances in the finals is a maximum of 10
minutes.
The competition secretary will monitor the duration of the performances.
13) Sheet Music Guidelines When the Accompanist Is Provided by Linnala
The sheet music for freely chosen songs must be in the key in which they will be performed in the competition. Chord symbols are sufficient only if the melody and lyrics are visible simultaneously, as in school songbooks. Chords and lyrics alone do not qualify as accompaniment material.
14) Competition Prizes
Prizes of both categories in the finals:
1st prize: 200 euros
2nd prize: 150 euros
3rd prize: 100 euros
Places 4‒5(6): 50 euros
All participants will also receive a certificate of honor and a surprise prize. Additionally, recognition awards will be presented