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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Theme: Process…ing
Read the CTM 2027 theme Process…ing.
Budget & Conditions
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.
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.
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.
Deutschlandfunk Kultur and CTM Festival will provide support, counselling, and general assistance during the production of the work.
Schedule & Deadline
- Deadline for submission: 6 September 2026 at 23:59 local Berlin time (UTC+2)
- Winners notified and announced: mid October 2026
- Production phase (remote): late October 2026 – January 2027
- Presentation at CTM 2027 Festival: 22 – 31 January 2027
- Deutschlandfunk Kultur – Klangkunst radio broadcast: Spring 2027
- Presentation via ORF and /or musikprotokoll: Autumn 2027
Jury
The international jury consists of Jan Rohlf (co-founder CTM Festival), Marcus Gammel (Deutschlandfunk Kultur), Anna Soucek (ORF Ö1), and one independent artist who will be disclosed together with the results.
Questions
Please send an email to in_listening(at)ctm-festival.de with the subject »In Listening« should you have any questions about applying.
A Note on AI
We want to hear your ideas in your own voice.
What matters to us most is your artistic thinking, not elaborate application writing. We recognise the helpfulness of AI tools to help brainstorm, structure, translate, or polish applications, especially for people whose first language is not English. We are looking for your authorship and clarity of ideas – meaning your perspective, your artistic reasoning, and what genuinely drives your proposal. Applications where AI has replaced rather than supported that voice are harder for the jury to evaluate meaningfully and may not stand out.
Application Form
Due to the international nature of the jury, we ask that applications be submitted in English.
In the case of duos or group projects, please select one person as the main/contact applicant.
Before applying, please have the following documents ready for upload in PDF format, maximum size 20Mb:
- project description including rough budget (rough breakdown of the project’s costs, for example your fee, collaborator fees, materials purchase, maintenance costs, etc. Maximum 4 pages)
- technical requirements (a rough idea of your technical equipment needs and staging)
- your CV (for projects that involve duos or groups, please combine CVs into one pdf document)
IMPORTANT: please label all of your PDF documents with your first + last name so that our application system accurately groups them together.
Deutschlandfunk Kultur – Radio Art / Klangkunst
The weekly »Klangkunst« broadcast was launched in January 1995 by Deutschlandfunk Kultur, German National Radio’s cultural programme. The broadcast was established to extend the formal possibilities of radio play, to experiment with new genres, and to introduce listeners to outstanding examples of international sound art. The Radio Art / Klangkunst programme covers the entire range of new radio art, from experimental sound play to poetry, text-sound collages, soundscapes, multilingual compositions, and electronic and digital radio performances. Klangkunst is a member of the Ars Acustica group of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU).
Ö1 Blaue Stunde (Kunstradio)
Ö1 Blaue Stunde was founded in 1987 as a weekly space for radio-art on Österreich 1 – the cultural channel of the ORF Austrian National Radio. Artists have linked the ORF radio space and infrastructure with independent radio stations, private studios, performance and installation spaces to realise an astonishing array of artistic reflection on radio as a medium and technology. In 1995 Kunstradio On Line was founded by artists and has since become a unique site and archive of radio-art. Kunstradio has been a founding member of the Ars Acustica group of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU). Since March 2026 Kunstradio has been titled Blaue Stunde.
ORF musikprotokoll im steirischen herbst
ORF musikprotokoll im steirischen herbst is a festival founded in 1968, and organised annually by ORF as a co-production between the national public radio’s two stations, Radio Österreich 1 (Ö1) and Radio Steiermark. Functioning as a kind of laboratory, musikprotokoll invites the audience to embark on an exploratory journey to discover the latest developments and trends in music. Productions, performances, and installations showcased at musikprotokoll are for the most part developed and produced specifically for the festival.
In Listening is a collaboration between CTM Festival and the Hörspiel/Klangkunst programm of Deutschlandradio Kultur, and the Austrian Broadcasting Service's programms Ö1 Blaue Stunde,and ORF musikpotokoll im stirischen herbst.