When you register to perform in a section, one of the questions asked is the duration of each piece.
The description underneath says: Please give the approximate time it takes to perform the piece in minutes/seconds
However, we find that many people don’t seem to understand what this means. We regularly receive timings that are far too long (and outside of the allowed time limit for the section), and vary widely from performer to performer. It is evident that many people are guessing or making up a figure to insert (often just spitting up the total time limit for the section), or are adding on extra time, such as walking on stage, tuning, leaving time in between their pieces etc.
Please don’t do this!
What we are asking is that you actually time (using a stopwatch / stopwatch app on your phone) how long it takes to play the piece, from the first note you play to the last note. That is all!
Please use this actual time take to play the piece in your registration form.
When we work out the scheduling, we have our own formula (from 100 years of running this competition!) for adding in extra time for incidentals.
If you provide us with inaccurate timings, it throws our schedule out. In some cases, we know how long the piece should take, and will adjust the timing appropriately. Otherwise, we will contact you to ask you to time the piece and give us an accurate duration