FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

• What do I call this competition?

  • We are called the American Traditions Vocal Competition, and go by “The ATC,” for short. We know we’re missing the “v” in that acronym, but the word “vocal” was added a few years ago, as a descriptor for what we do, so we don’t get confused for other American traditions, like baking and quilting.

• How do I stay in touch with the ATC?

  • The best way is through our mailing list, our Instagram or our Facebook.

• What are the prizes?

  • We have major awards, and specialty awards, and each competitor receives a stipend for traveling to Savannah, and advancing to the Semifinal Round. Specialty and major awards range from $500-$12,000 and are all paid by check, in person, in Savannah. We also allow the opportunity for each singer to meet and interact with our celebrated judges, which has led to Broadway debuts, performance contracts, management, and other fun bonuses! Additionally, and most importantly, we offer a world where like-minded singers gather and form a community of support, friendship and collaboration. The ATC week can be stressful, but almost everyone leaves with a lasting group of friends from across the country (and world!) and across the spectrum of music.

How do I apply for the American Traditions Vocal Competition?

• You should fill out the entire application, making sure to present your entire program of nine American songs (representing nine different genres) in the order you would perform it in, should you advance to the live competition. The application is broken up into “rounds,” representing the Live Quarterfinal Round (24 total singers), the Live Semifinal Round (12 total singers) and the Live Final Round (5 total singers).

• Each of these rounds is its own program, so in total you should prepare three “mini programs”, each consisting of three non-repeating songs that contrast in tempo, style, mood, and genre. All three of these “mini programs” add up to create your full program of nine songs. This all needs to be represented on your application.

• Further, you will need to submit recent recordings for your first “mini program” (representing your Live Quarterfinal Round). These audio files are preferred as .mp3, but .wav and .aiff are accepted, and the recordings should be fairly recent (not from 10 years ago), easy to hear (not a lot of background noise - sometimes live recordings are submitted; please use your best judgement), and not distorted (this doesn’t allow our preliminary judges to really hear you!). These recordings do not need to be professionally made, they do not need to be something you go out and have a special recording session for. If you choose to do that, you are welcome to, but we receive all kinds of recordings - phone recordings with karaoke and backing tracks, live recordings, studio recordings, and everything in between. Our preliminary judges do not take the type of recording into account unless it is not benefiting the singer to the point of obscured vocals.

  • Additionally, each song must represent a different genre from the selected list, and no genres can repeat - we really want you to lean into stylistic diversity. Singers see great results when they switch musical styles drastically within rounds (i.e., opera to country to jazz). However, we are not looking for you to create different “voices” - each song should sound like you, with your full, unique instrument. What should be flexible is the way you handle style. For example, not singing a Jazz tune like an Opera aria, not singing a Musical Theatre song like Jazz. You get the drift.

• What does “American” mean in this competition? American is a broad term!

  • For our purposes, “American” means a composer who holds United States Citizenship. The Americas are a big place, encompassing North and South America, and the United States of America is just one part of this hemisphere. America has commonly become a nickname for the United States, and has been a part of our organization’s title since our inception in 1993. In addition to naturally-born U.S. Citizens, we welcome composers from different countries who are dual citizens, composers who write in languages other than English, and composers who have been naturalized (so long as the composition was written after the naturalization date). If you have a question about a composer’s naturalization please email our Executive and Artistic Director.

    • Some commonly requested naturalized composers include: IRVING BERLIN (1918), RICHARD HAGEMAN (1925), ARNOLD SCHOENBERG (1941), ERICH KORNGOLD (1943), KURT WEILL (1943), ANDRE PREVIN (1943), TANIA LEON (1973).

• Okay, so what composers or compositions might I take for granted as being “American”?

  • Adele, Joni Mitchell, Leonard Cohen, David Foster (prior to 2000 - he is a citizen now!), Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber, Gian Carlo Menotti, The Beatles, David Bowie, Sting. Further, please avoid music from Les Misérables, Miss Saigon, Elton John’s Aida, and the song from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, “Pure Imagination.” When in doubt, we recommend Google - we check all of your selections, so we recommend you do, too!

• Any other songs I should avoid?

  • We have a Do Not Sing list, filled with songs our audiences and judges have asked us to remove from the canon of the ATC. Please do not offer or program the following songs:

Ok, so what genres are recognized in the American Traditions Vocal Competition?

• Americana, Art Song, Blues, Country, Folk, Gospel, Great American Songbook, Hollywood, Jazz, Musical Theatre, Opera, Mid-Century Pop (1950-1980), Religious, Singer-Songwriters 1980 - Today, Songs of Johnny Mercer, Spirituals, and Story Songs.

• What is a Story Song?

  • Story songs are songs that tell a story. Typically, these are written in the Musical Theatre-style and are not from a show, or are from a song cycle (Edges, Ordinary Days, songs by Jeff Blumenkrantz, Goldrich & Heisler, John Bucchino, etc).

• What are Singer-Songwriters 1980-Today

  • Singer-Songwriters in many ways encompass their own style. For this category we are not seeking a song where the list of songwriters is 8+ people, one of which is the artist who made it famous. We’re looking for songs that are written by the artist who made it famous, hence singer-songwriter: both. Sometimes, songs will be offered by a songwriting duo who wrote the song, or the full band had a hand in writing it. That is permissible, but we still prefer singer-songwriters for this category. Popular artists include Prince, Sara Bareilles, John Legend, Taylor Swift, Lizzie McAlpine, Tori Amos, Michelle Branch, Vanessa Carlton, Bruno Mars, Indie.Arie, and many others.

• What is Americana?

  • Americana is a two-fold kind of category. This category is a celebration of early America. Inside this genre, you would program early American music like Parlor Songs and songs of Stephen Foster and his contemporaries. Further, you would also program Patriotic music here - songs like God Bless America, The Battle Hymn of the Republic, and even the National Anthem.

• What is Hollywood?

  • Hollywood is a category for songs written for the silver and the small screen. Music written just for a tv show (like Sara Bareilles’ Little Voice, The Partridge Family, the musical episode of Scrubs, etc.) or music written for films are viable for this category. This includes theme music or title songs for films and songs written for musical versions of movies. Be very careful that you choose a song written for the movie, and not just a song that appeared in a movie. For example, Dreamgirls was a pre-existing musical, but the producers added “Listen” for the film. Listen would work for Hollywood, but all other Dreamgirls songs should be listed as only musical theatre. This applies also to The Sound of Music, Funny Girl, and several other movie-musicals.

• What is “Songs of Johnny Mercer?”

  • Johnny Mercer is one of the most prolific American songwriters, a co-founder of famed Capitol Records, and by all accounts a REALLY nice guy. On top of that, he is a native of Savannah, Georgia - our hometown. Primarily a lyricist, he collaborated with just about every major songwriter of his lifetime. He also wrote songs of his own - both music and lyrics. For this category, we allow any song that Johnny had a hand in - whether music, lyrics, or both! These songs can be from films, from musicals, or Great American Songbook standards.

    • Many of Johnny’s songs are highly obscure, and if you want to track one down, or have any other questions regarding his tunes, we recommend you email the archives of the Johnny Mercer Collection, held and managed at Georgia State, or check out their Johnny Mercer song database.

• Can I sing my own music?

  • For the past few years, we have not allowed original music, but we welcome it back to our competition starting in 2023. Please make sure it fits squarely within a pre-existing genre from our list.

• Can I bring my own pianist?

  • Yes, you may absolutely bring your own pianist at your own expense. Some singers are used to working with one particular collaborator, and there’s truly no issue with that on our end. We staff three amazingly talented, generous and fun pianists that get assigned to each singer as their collaborator, free of charge. However, if you do want to bring a pianist, several contestants do each year.

• Who is eligible to apply?

  • Any singer in the world who is over the age of 18 by the time the live competition begins can apply. For this year’s competition, each competitor must be born by February 19, 2006. We pride ourselves on being one of the only singing competitions in the world with no upper age limit! Performers from any country in the world can apply and compete, so long as their selections are written by an American composer. We regularly receive applications from Korea, Japan, India, Singapore, Russia, Australia, Argentina, Germany, France, Ireland, Mexico, and many other countries. We have just a few exceptions on eligibility:

    • Singers may only compete in Savannah, Georgia, three times in every five years. We LOVE that singers wish to reapply, and treasure each and every singer’s experience with us.

    • A singer who has won the Gold Medal (1st place) can not reapply or compete again. However, any other finalist or competitor can reapply, even in consecutive years.

• Anything else I should know?

  • Each competitor can offer one song in their full program that is written in another language. We often see this in the Religious Music category, or sometimes Popular Music of 1950-1980 (La Bamba, Piel Canela, etc).

  • Each competitor can offer one Self-Accompanied song on their full program on piano. We love other instruments, but we have tested and tried this with violins, guitars, loopers, etc. Trust us, piano only. We’ve learned the hard way! Exceptions are occasionally made, but this is a pretty typical hard line for us.

  • There are time limits for each round: 12 minutes for Quarterfinals, 14 minutes for Semifinals, and 16 minutes for Finals. The timer starts when you open your mouth on stage to sing or speak, and it ends when you have finished singing your final number. There is one “grace” minute offered for each singer, each round, but if your program goes longer than a minute over, one point will be deducted from your overall score for that round.

  • Judges adjudicate based on three criteria: technique, diversity of program and artistry on a scale of 1-10. One judge’s perfect score for a round would be 30/30. Each round is judged individually, not cumulatively, so if you receive a 30 in round one, but only receive a 15 in round two, round one cannot help carry you to the finals. Programming of each round is equally important! To see a sample scoring sheet, check out our application page.

  • This application process can be difficult, but it is meant to be educational. The point is for singers to learn and appreciate these different genres of American song. To spend time on the history, the roots, the key players and the great artists of each genre. We encourage all applicants to delve deeply into their selected genres and make interesting, unique selections. Please reach out to our Executive and Artistic Director if you have questions!