Official Rules

1. HOW TO ENTER THE CONTEST

NO CONTRIBUTION OR PURCHASE IS NECESSARY TO ENTER

To enter the Karin Larson Your Classical Prize Contest (the “Contest”), follow the instructions on the Contest web page at YourClassical.org/KarinLarsonPrize to submit the following (collectively, the “Submission”): (i) a URL to a video file of you performing a piece of music that celebrates women in classical music; the video file must be under seven (7) minutes in length and must be an original video (i.e., not a video by a third party) of a solo performance, although it may include an accompanist; (ii) two 150-word essays as further outlined below; and (iii) a completed copy of the entry form posted on that page, including selecting one of two prize categories for your entry. The prize in each category will be awarded only to the soloist. Submissions must be submitted and received between 12:01 a.m. CT on February 13, 2025, and 11:59 p.m. CT on March 31, 2025 (the "Submission Period"). Sponsor’s computer timeclock is the official timekeeper for all Contest purposes. Sponsor (as defined below) has sole discretion for determining if an entry has been successfully submitted. Limit one entry per person. Any Submission that is not in compliance with these Official Rules may be disqualified, at the sole discretion of the Sponsor. Evidence of submitting a Submission does not constitute evidence that Sponsor received it. Any entry that is not properly submitted or received for any reason, including any technical difficulties, upload failures, failures to save or properly store the entry, efforts of hackers or any lost or disconnected Internet connections, will be disqualified. Any attempt by any Entrant (as defined below) to obtain more than the stated number of entries allowed will void that Entrant's entries, and that Entrant may be disqualified. Use of artificial intelligence or any automated system to participate in the Contest is prohibited and will result in disqualification; all such entries will be deemed void.

If you are a minor under the age of 18, you must review these Official Rules with your parent or legal guardian and have permission from your parent or legal guardian to participate in the Contest. If a minor is chosen as a finalist, they must submit written permission, including confirmation of age, from their parent or guardian as a condition of further participation and potentially winning a prize.

2. ENTRANT ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS

To be eligible to enter the Contest, a participant (the "Entrant") must be 14 to 28 years of age at the time of entry. Entrants in the Emerging Artist category must be current high school students between 14 and 18 years old. Entrants in the Preprofessional Musician category must be out of high school and between 18 and 28 years old. Entrant and their immediate families and persons living in the same household may not be employees of American Public Media Group or its related organizations, including Sponsor. Previous winners of the Contest are not eligible to enter. Any Entrant (i) who does not meet all eligibility requirements, or (ii) who exhibits behavior that is illegal, unethical, inconsistent with good citizenship, or is otherwise inappropriate may be disqualified at any time, at the sole discretion of Sponsor. Entrant must be a Minnesota resident. Residency means you currently live in Minnesota and have a Minnesota address. Students attending school in Minnesota at the time of the competition are eligible to participate. Students who are Minnesota residents but are attending school outside of Minnesota at the time of the Contest are also eligible to participate provided they have a primary Minnesota home address when not at school. The soloist featured in the video will be deemed the Entrant for all Contest purposes.

You must be a nonprofessional musician to enter. Entrant will not be disqualified if the Entrant has accepted a modest stipend, payment, or honorarium for performances (e.g., paid church musician, paid accompanist). However, no Entrant (i) may be represented under a talent contract (e.g., by a talent agent or manager), (ii) may have a merchandising agreement, (iii) may have a signed contract with a record label, (iv) may have any contract that would limit or impair Sponsor's ability to use the Submission, (v) may have any contract that would make an Entrant's appearance in the Submission a violation of any third-party right(s), and/or (vi) may have any other contractual relationship (e.g., guild or union memberships) that may prohibit the Entrant from participating fully in this Contest, or from allowing Sponsor to use, on a residual-free and royalty-free basis, the Submission worldwide (subject to all local laws and regulations) in all media in perpetuity.

3. SUBMISSION REQUIREMENTS

To be eligible to win the Contest, a Submission must meet all of the Submission Requirements. Any Submission that does not meet all Submission Requirements may be disqualified at any time, at the sole discretion of Sponsor. All physical and electronic entry materials and Submissions will be used by the Sponsor for the purposes outlined herein and will not be acknowledged or returned.

1. The Submission must include a video of the Entrant performing music that celebrates women in classical music. Sponsor reserves the right to determine whether the musical works are within the scope of the required musical genre.

2. The Submission must be made by an Entrant who meets all eligibility requirements.

3. Length of the video submitted may not be longer than seven (7) minutes.

4. Submissions must include two (2) 150-word essays:

   a. One essay should explain how the musical performance celebrates women in classical music.

   b. One essay should explain what winning this prize would mean to the Entrant.

5. Submissions must comply with all Terms of Service for the website where they are posted.

Additional Submission Requirements: Sponsor reserves the right to, in its sole and absolute discretion, disqualify any Entrant and/or Submission from the Contest for any good-faith reason. Entry Submission Requirement restrictions include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Submissions may not include trademarks, logos or copyrighted material not owned by Entrant or material that is used without permission (including, but not limited to, company names, photographs, works of art or images published on any media) or that otherwise infringes or violates the rights of any third party (including, but not limited to, copyrights, trademarks, patents, trade secrets, logos, contract and licensing rights, rights of publicity or privacy, moral rights [i.e., “droit moral”] or any other intellectual property rights);

• Submissions may not include any unauthorized people, videos, photos, images, comments or plagiarism of any kind;

• Submissions may not contain or reference nudity, inappropriate, indecent, sexually explicit, pornographic or obscene content or images (which shall be determined by Sponsor in its sole and absolute discretion);

• Submissions may not contain any religious, political or politically themed or motivated messages, comments, statements or images as determined by Sponsor in its sole and absolute discretion;

• Submissions may not defame, slander, libel, misrepresent or contain disparaging remarks or any other content that could adversely affect the name, reputation or goodwill of the Released Parties (as defined below) or any other individuals and/or entities as determined by Sponsor in its sole and absolute discretion;

• Submissions may not depict or include any comments, descriptions or images that may be considered unlawful, harmful, threatening, violent, abusive, harassing, tortuous, defamatory, vulgar, libelous, invasive of another’s privacy, hateful, or racially, religiously, ethnically or otherwise objectionable in any manner as determined by Sponsor in its sole and absolute discretion;

• Submissions may not include any commercial message or monetary solicitations;

• Submissions may not be subject to any third-party agreement or require payment or incurrence of any sums to obtain further permissions of any person or entity as a result of its use or exploitation of the Submission or its component parts; and

• Submissions may not include the name, likeness, description, photograph or any other identifying element, in whole or in part, of any person, living or dead, without explicit written permission from such person, their representative, or estate.

Sponsor reserves the right to disqualify and remove any Submission at any time that is not in compliance with these Official Rules. All Submissions must conform to the Submission Requirements as outlined herein or may be disqualified and not considered for the Contest. If, in Sponsor’s sole discretion, it does not receive a sufficient number of eligible and qualified Submissions, Sponsor may terminate the Contest, and no prize will be awarded.

Once a Submission has been submitted, it may not be revised, changed or edited. Entrant is responsible for any and all expenses associated with participating in the Contest, including any recording or submission costs.

4. SPONSOR’S RESERVATION OF RIGHTS

Sponsor reserves the right to modify these Official Rules (e.g., add rules or to clarify any or all of the rules) at any time during the Contest. Any such additions or clarifications will be posted with these rules, and Sponsor will have no further obligation to announce or publicize such additions or clarifications. Likewise, Sponsor reserves the right to make exceptions to the Rules in its sole discretion and without further obligation to other Entrants.

5. LICENSE

By entering the Contest, all Entrants grant an irrevocable, perpetual, worldwide, nonexclusive, royalty-free license to Sponsor and its related companies to reproduce, distribute, and display the Submission: in connection with the Contest and promotion of the Contest, including, but not limited to terrestrial broadcasts, streaming, digital, internet, and/or via any other platform or media now known or hereafter developed. Sponsor will not be required to pay any additional consideration or seek any additional approval in connection with such use. Sponsor or its related organizations may use the name and likeness of winning Entrants, any accompanists and the full Submissions for advertising, fundraising, promotional or publicity purposes without further compensation or approval. Any finalist(s) who is a minor must provide a signed copy of Sponsor's parent/legal guardian consent form to be provided by Sponsor. Winners and accompanists (or their parent/legal guardian) will be required to sign a release and affidavit documenting agreement to the terms herein, including without limitation a license to use name, image and likeness of all relevant participants, a license to use all Submission materials, a release of Sponsor and the Released Parties from any claims associated herewith, and otherwise confirm compliance with the terms herein. Failure to execute and deliver this affidavit and release within the time frame requested by Sponsor may result in disqualification in Sponsor’s sole discretion, in which case the Entrant with the next highest vote total will be deemed the winner.

6. WINNER SELECTION

Every eligible Submission will be considered. Selection will be made according to the following process.

Judging Stage: Eligible Submissions will be judged by a Sponsor-appointed panel of judges pursuant to the following guidelines, requirements, and criteria to choose up to five (5) finalists in each category for the voting stage of the Contest:

• Relevance to Theme (20%): Submission’s success and relevance in celebrating women in classical music;

• Quality of Performance (30%): Technical and musical quality of the performance;

• Quality of Essays (30%): Content and style of written essays; and

• Overall Presentation (20%): Thoughtfulness and professionalism of entire Submission.

In the event of a tie, the tied entry with the highest score in the Quality of Performance criteria will be deemed the finalist. If the tied entries are still tied, the tied entry with the highest score in the Quality of Essays criteria will be deemed the finalist, or Sponsor may decide in its sole discretion to select both of the tied parties as finalists. Sponsor will not disclose judging scores. Decisions of the Sponsor and judges in the selection and determination of finalists, prize winners and all matters relating to this Contest are final and binding.

Public Voting Stage: Following the determination of the selected finalists, Sponsor shall provide access to the finalists’ Submissions via the Contest website, social media outlets and other marketing channels to facilitate consumer voting to choose the winner in each category. The voting period shall commence on or about 12:01 a.m. CT May 16, 2025, and end on or about 11:59 p.m. CT June 1, 2025 (the “Voting Period,” subject to change at Sponsor’s sole discretion). Should the voting date(s) change, Sponsor will prominently announce the new dates via the Contest website. During the Voting Period, individuals may vote for their favorite finalist via the Contest website. Limit one (1) vote per person during the Voting Period.

In its sole discretion, Sponsor reserves the right to disqualify any Entrant/Submission should the voting process appear to have been tampered with or manipulated in any way. In its sole and absolute discretion, Sponsor reserves the right to disqualify any votes deemed to be fraudulent, in violation of these Official Rules, or in any way contrary to these Official Rules which would be unfair to other finalists or that would otherwise undermine the integrity of this Contest. Votes that have been tampered with, reproduced, falsified, or altered are void. Votes are subject to verification at any time.

Selected finalists may use their social media platforms and other forms of media to encourage consumers to vote for their Submission. However, obtaining votes by any fraudulent or inappropriate means, including vote-bartering, bribes, threats or offering prizes or other incentives to members of the public, is prohibited. Sponsor reserves the right to request proof (in a form acceptable to Sponsor – including, without limitation, government-issued photo identification) for any votes entered, or purportedly entered, to be considered valid for the purposes of this Contest. Where requested, failure to provide such proof to the satisfaction of Sponsor may result in a disqualification of the Entrant/Submission receiving such questionable votes. If it is discovered or reasonably suspected in Sponsor’s sole discretion that attempts were made to: (i) use (or attempt to use) multiple names, identities, email addresses and/or any automated, macro, script, robotic or other systems(s)/ program(s) to submit votes; (ii) engage in any form of proxy voting scheme or (iii) engage in any behavior deemed to be in violation of the letter and/or spirit of these Official Rules, Sponsor reserves the right, in its sole and absolute discretion, to disqualify the implicated finalist.

Following the close of the Voting Period, the Sponsor-appointed panel of judges shall review the voting results for accuracy and any potential voting irregularities. The finalist with the highest number of valid and confirmed votes in each category shall be deemed the winner.

7. PRIZES

The winners will receive the following prizes:

1. $12,500 to the Preprofessional Musician winner and $7,500 for the Emerging Artist. We will award each prize to one winner or divide the prize amount among more than one winner if there is a tie in the voting process for either or both categories.

2. Recording studio time at a recording studio chosen by Sponsor and for a duration to be determined by Sponsor in its sole discretion. The studio session will include photo, audio and video recording of the winner’s musical performance and an interview to be conducted by Sponsor. Sponsor will own all rights in this content for future promotional purposes ($950 approximate value).

3. Multichannel marketing ($4,000 approximate value).

4. Opportunity to perform submitted piece of music for the MPR board of directors.

Total prize package approximate retail value: $17,450 for Preprofessional Musician category and $12,450 for Emerging Artist category.

Use/broadcast of winner’s video and performance are not part of the prize, and Sponsor has no obligation to broadcast the video performance. All other costs and expenses related to prize acceptance, delivery, redemption or use not specified herein as being provided are the sole responsibility of winner. All income, federal, state and local taxes are winner’s sole responsibility. All prize awards are nontransferable, and no cash redemption or prize substitution allowed, except at Sponsor’s sole discretion or as provided herein. Sponsor reserves the right to substitute a prize with one of comparable or greater value, at its sole discretion. Failure to collect or properly claim a prize in accordance with these rules will result in forfeiture of the prize. If any portion of the prize is forfeited for any reason, winner will not receive any other prize substitution or compensation. Any unclaimed prizes will not be awarded.

8. GENERAL/LIABILITY

The Entrant acknowledges that by entering the Contest, the Entrant agrees (i) that no form of cheating will be tolerated, specifically including, without limitation, vote fraud, vote sharing, vote exchanges, vote purchases or any other methods that artificially increase the number of votes received for a Submission, as determined in Sponsor’s sole discretion, (ii) that the performance may not be edited prior to submission, and (iii) that the Entrant and the Submission meet all requirements of these Official Rules. Any persons found cheating or otherwise violating the Official Rules, as determined in the sole discretion of Sponsor, may be immediately disqualified from the Contest. By entering this Contest, Entrants agree to abide by these Official Rules as stated herein and the decisions of Sponsor and judges, which are final and binding in all matters pertaining to this Contest. Additionally, by participating, Entrants agree to comply with the terms of use and other contracts and policies governing any related website.

By participating, Entrants agree to hold the Sponsor, judges, the applicable social media sites and their respective parent companies, subsidiaries, affiliates, suppliers, distributors, advertising/promotion agencies, and each such company’s officers, directors, employees and agents (collectively, the “Released Parties”) harmless from any claims, losses, actions, or damages of any kind, whether actual, incidental or consequential, for injury (including but not limited to death), damages, losses or expenses arising out of or relating to Entrant’s participation in this Contest, or the acceptance, possession or use/misuse of any prize, or participation in prize-related activities (including but not limited to travel or activity related thereto), and to assume all liability therefor. Furthermore, the Entrant agrees to indemnify and defend the Released Parties from any third-party claims associated with the Submission, participation in the Contest and use of the prize, including without limitation injury, death or claims for monetary damages.

9. LIMITATIONS OF LIABILITY

By participating in this Contest, Entrants agree the Released Parties have no liability whatsoever for any injuries, losses, or damages of any kind which result from use of the prize, or by participation in the Contest, are not responsible for interrupted or unavailable network server or other connections, miscommunications, failed telephone or computer transmissions or jumbled, scrambled or misdirected Submissions or transmissions, or for phone, electrical, network, computer hardware or software or program malfunctions, failures or difficulties or for other errors, omissions, interruptions, or deletions of any kind whether human, mechanical or electronic, or for any damage to any person’s computer related to participating in the Contest. Sponsor and its affiliated organizations, their agents and employees are not responsible for illegible, unintelligible, late, lost or stolen Submissions or mail or incorrect or inaccurate entry information, whether caused by Internet users or programming associated with or utilized in the Contest or by any technical, typographical or human errors that may occur in the processing of any Submissions in, or the administration of, this Contest. Persons found tampering with or abusing any aspect of this Contest, as solely determined by Sponsor, may be disqualified and may be subject to prosecution. If in the sole judgment of Sponsor, the Contest is compromised by viruses, bugs, nonauthorized human intervention, harassment or other causes which otherwise corrupt or interfere, or may corrupt or interfere, with the administration, security, fairness, safety or intended facilitation of the Contest, Sponsor reserves the right, in its sole discretion to discontinue, suspend, modify or terminate the Contest and proceed in a manner it deems fair and reasonable, which manner shall include the selection of winners from among eligible entries received prior to such discontinuation, suspension, termination or modification.

CAUTION: ANY ATTEMPT TO UNDERMINE THE LEGITIMATE OPERATION OF THE CONTEST IS A VIOLATION OF CRIMINAL AND CIVIL LAWS. SHOULD SUCH AN ATTEMPT BE MADE, SPONSOR RESERVES THE RIGHT TO SEEK DAMAGES OR OTHER REMEDIES FROM ANY SUCH PERSON(S) RESPONSIBLE FOR THE ATTEMPT TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW. In the event of a dispute as to the identity of a winner based on an email address, the winning entry will be declared made by the authorized account holder of the email address submitted at time of entry. “Authorized account holder" is defined as the natural person who is assigned to an email address by an internet access provider, on-line service provider or other organization (e.g., business, educational institution, etc.) that is responsible for assigning email addresses for the domain associated with the submitted email address. SPONSOR MAKES NO WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EITHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE OR NONINFRINGEMENT AS REGARDS TO A PRIZE OR ANY COMPONENT OF A PRIZE.

10. PUBLICITY RIGHTS

By participating in this Contest, each Entrant agrees to allow Sponsor, and/or its designees the perpetual right to use their Submissions, name, personal information, photos and/or likeness, and statements for Contest, trade, commercial, entertainment, advertising and publicity purposes, at any time or times, in all media now known or hereafter discovered, worldwide, including but not limited to the Internet, without notice, review or approval and without additional compensation, except as and where prohibited by law.

11. DISPUTE RESOLUTION AND CHOICE OF LAW

Issues concerning the construction, validity, interpretation and enforceability of these rules shall be governed by the laws of the State of Minnesota. All disputes arising out of or connected with this Contest will be resolved individually, and without resort to class action, exclusively by the appropriate federal or Minnesota State Court located in Hennepin County, Minnesota. Should there be a conflict between the laws of the State of Minnesota and any other laws, the conflict will be resolved in favor of the laws of the State of Minnesota. All judgments or awards shall be limited to actual incurred out-of-pocket expenses (excluding attorneys' fees) associated with participation in this Contest and shall not include any indirect, punitive, incidental and/or consequential damages.

12. CONTEST SPONSOR

Minnesota Public Radio, 480 Cedar Street, St. Paul, MN 55101, 651-290-1500