We’re updating the CTM Radio Lab! After more than a decade of collaboration between CTM Festival and Germany’s public radio Deutschlandfunk Kultur, with support from Austria’s ORF public radio, the Radio Lab is shifted into a project titled »In Listening« which aims to zero in on sound-focused experiences.
This open call is for works strongly grounded in experimental sound practices and audio art, and driven by conceptual approaches or sonic narratives. Its aim is to support exploration at the blurred edges between sound, noise, music, storytelling, poetry, documenting and more, while reflecting on ideas, stories, current events or the very processes of sound and listening. Both text and music can form integral parts of the piece, but the challenge is to develop works where sound is the main medium.
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Works should respond to the CTM 2027 theme Process…ing. Active listening – as a form of individual or relational process – should inform the proposals to this call. In this spirit, applications should include information on how the work could be developed for two complementary yet different outputs – as a live event at CTM 2027, and as a radio broadcast on Deutschlandfunk Kultur and Ö1 / ORF.
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At CTM, proposed works should focus on the shared listening experience at an international music festival. Works will be presented in the silent green Kuppelhalle with an intimate setup where the audience is seated around the performer(s), and surrounded by a 6.1-channel PA-System. We welcome creative use of this setting, including working with the distribution of fewer channels, stereo or mono signals. Minimal lighting and scenography can be included insofar as they reinforce the listening experience and concept, for example through the performer’s presence, gestures, sound objects etc. Scenography is not necessary however – performances in the dark are also suitable. Proposals including video and complex scenography are outside the scope of this call.
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For radio/podcast, proposals should consider particular mechanisms needed for a successful individual listening experience – it is not enough to submit a recording of the performance. Some suggestions when thinking through radio are: considering what active listening can mean through broadcasts, imagining various listening environments (home stereo, car radio, headphones, etc), and diverse forms of listening. The broadcast will be transmitted during a late night slot to a largely German-speaking audience who are not music or sound art specialists.
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The commissioned works will premiere at CTM 2027 Festival in Berlin (22–31 January 2027), and will be broadcast in Deutschlandfunk Kultur’s Klangkunst programme in Spring 2027 in the form of a 40–55 minute radio piece. The Österreichischer Rundfunk (Austrian Broadcasting Service) will also present the work via one or more of its platforms: the Ö1 Zeit-Ton or Ö1 Blaue Stunde (Kunstradio) radio shows, and/or the ORF musikprotokoll im steirischen herbst festival in Graz (Autumn 2027). Subsequently the world will be available for streaming online via the websites and apps of Deutschlandfunk and ORF for at least one year.
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Read the CTM 2027 theme Process…ing.
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Two selected works will be supported by a fee of 6000 € each. The commission winners will give up to two performances of their works during CTM. Winners are responsible for covering costs relating to the research and creation of the work (eg. collaborator honorariums, specific materials purchase, etc). Technical/staging costs for CTM and for possible presentations at ORF musikprotokoll im steirischen herbst festival will be covered additionally, upon discussion with the respective organisers.
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Works including language or bits of spoken word/lyrics might consider accessibility for an international audience (at CTM Festival) respectively German speakers (for the Radio broadcast). Guidance and certain possible costs related to radio production (translations, voiceovers, recording studio time) can be provided by Deutschlandfunk Kultur upon discussion.
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Travel expenses to Berlin and lodging during the production/festival period will be covered by CTM. Please bear in mind that project proposals involving multiple collaborators are possible, but should aim for a modest travel budget to be seriously considered.
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Deutschlandfunk Kultur and CTM Festival will provide support, counselling, and general assistance during the production of the work.
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Get your materials ready: score, audio, bio, and a work page you can share anywhere.