At Kingdom Twelfth Night, being held on January 10th in Abhainn Ciach Ghlais, the next Sylvan Bard of Æthelmearc will be decided. The following announcement concerning the competition is posted with the permission of Lady Alianora Bronhulle, the current Sylvan Bard. Greetings from the Sylvan Bard! Kingdom Twelfth Night (on January 10, 2015) is approaching, and the competition to choose the next Bardic Champion will be held at that time. Dust off your song books, tune up your instruments, and throw your name in the hat! The format will be as follows: For the competition, Their Royal Majesties stipulate that the participants rotate forms (like in the final round of crown), meaning that they cannot do two pieces of the same type in a row (i.e. two songs, stories, poems, etc.)

• The first round for all interested participants will be a piece in the style of their choice with the theme of “courtly love”. This will occur before lunch.

• Round two for all interested participants will be a piece composed on site based on a subject pulled from a hat. This round will be held mid-afternoon.

• After Their Royal Majesties have heard the first two rounds and made their selections for the final round, round three will be for those chosen only and will be the bard’s choice of piece.

This round will be held before court. The Champion will be announced in court that evening. Please note that this is a 1-year term as Sylvan Bard, and you get some swanky regalia. Even if you don’t want to compete, there will be time and space available between rounds for performances…on a real stage! Come perform, or support those that are performing. It looks like it will be a very entertaining time. In service to bardic awesomeness, Lady Alianora Bronhulle

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You can contact Lady Alianora at <e_whitcomb at yahoo dot com> with any questions about the competition The event announcement for Twelfth Night is here.