Organizer Information
Europasinfonie is a project of the Dresdner Sinfoniker, a Dresden-based symphony orchestra dedicated to contemporary music that has worked exclusively on a project basis for 25 years, drawing musicians from across Europe. The orchestra has built an international reputation for visually striking, formally daring, and often politically engaged productions, and has received honors including the UNESCO World Horizon Prize and the ECHO Klassik award. It has a long history of pairing music with new technology, dating back to a 2008 remote-conducting satellite broadcast linking London and Dresden.
Building on that legacy, the Dresdner Sinfoniker developed Europasinfonie together with Prof. Alexander Carôt of Anhalt University over several years to reduce network signal latency to a level low enough for musicians in different countries to perform in genuine synchrony. The project connects twelve European orchestras and choirs into a single ensemble for a real-time concert, framed as a cultural and technological statement of European partnership, and is co-financed in part by the State Capital Dresden and the State of Saxony, with support from the Allianz Foundation. Europasinfonie is funded by the European Union; the views expressed in the call are those of the project partners and do not necessarily reflect those of the EU or EACEA.
Title & Description
Europasinfonie — European Composition Competition for Live Networked Symphony Orchestra and Choir
This is a call for scores inviting composers to write new works for Europasinfonie, a first-of-its-kind networked orchestra and choir performance linking 12 locations across Europe in real time. Only the string section performs live on stage in Dresden; all other instrumental groups and two choirs remain in their home countries and perform together with the Dresden strings via live audio-visual transmission, appearing life-size on stage via LED screens. Three composers will each be awarded a commission to write a complete work, to be premiered in a real-time, multi-location concert in June 2027 with a live audience in Dresden and a worldwide live stream. Composers may submit to one or both of two categories: an orchestral work, or an orchestral work with choir.
Categories
- Composer
- Sound/Music
- Multimedia
- New Media
- Technology
- Interdisciplinary Arts
Eligibility
- Legal residents of a Creative Europe eligible country (no nationality/citizenship restriction): Albania, Austria, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Montenegro, Netherlands, North Macedonia, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Ukraine
- Applicants must be 18 years or older at the submission deadline; no other age restrictions
- At least one of the three commissions will be awarded to a composer aged 35 or under at the submission deadline
- Competition is conducted anonymously; scores must not contain the composer's name or identifying information (use only a code name or working title)
- The submitted excerpt must not have been previously premiered, published, or awarded another prize
Program Benefits & Awards
- Commission fee: €14,000 gross per selected composer (three commissions total: two orchestral, one orchestral with choir)
- Payment structure: 50% paid upon signing the commission contract; 50% paid upon delivery of the complete score, orchestral parts, and vocal score (where applicable)
- Premiere of the commissioned work in a real-time, multi-location concert in Dresden, June 2027, broadcast worldwide via live stream
- Rights: composer credited and receives a copy of any recording; further royalties governed by the composer's collecting society
- Invitation to a workshop with Musical Director Andrea Molino and the technical team, held alongside the first technical test in Dresden on October 20, 2026 (remote participation may be possible)
- Ongoing advisory support from Andrea Molino and the technical team throughout the composition process for selected composers
Application Fee
None
How to Apply?
Online Application
Key Dates
- Application Deadline: 31 July 2026
- Jury session (final selection): September 28–29, 2026
- Technical test workshop with Andrea Molino: 20 October 2026
- Premiere / commissioned works performed: June 2027
Location
Germany
Additional Details
- If selected, composers develop their submitted excerpt (minimum 2 minutes) into a full commissioned work of 15–20 minutes
- Full instrumentation required: strings 16.14.12.10.10; woodwinds 3.3.3.3 (with doublings on piccolo, cor anglais, bass clarinet, contrabassoon); brass 4.3.3.1; timpani + 2 percussionists; piano/celesta and harp; and, for the choral category, two SATB chamber choirs of 16 singers each
- Texts for choral works may be in any language of an eligible country, including multilingual texts; securing all necessary text rights is the composer's responsibility
- The world premiere of all commissioned works is exclusively reserved for the June 2027 Europasinfonie concert; the commission fee covers rights to that performance and its live broadcast/streaming
- The Europasinfonie Consortium receives a non-exclusive license to perform, broadcast, and record the commissioned work for 5 years from the premiere date, including for archival, documentary, promotional, and commercial recording purposes
- Composers must warrant the work is free of third-party rights conflicts and secure any necessary publisher clearances before accepting a commission
- Pre-selection and jury evaluation are conducted anonymously; a 12-member jury of representatives from participating orchestras/choirs plus the Musical Director makes the final selection; age information is disclosed only at final selection stage to ensure the under-35 commission requirement is met
- Legal recourse against jury decisions is excluded; the jury's decision is final and binding, and it reserves the right not to award a prize
- Applicants may submit written questions to the artistic/technical team, with all Q&A published on the Europasinfonie website