BLUDENZER TAGE ZEITGEMÄßER MUSIK

Workshop/Competition 2025
with Elena Rykova and Blaurenz Duo

The Bludenzer Tage zeitgemäßer Musik is pleased to announce a workshop/competition for composers in Bludenz (Austria) that will take place during the festival, from September 18 to September 21, 2025.

Workshop with Elena Rykova and Blaurenz Duo

A jury consisting of composer Elena Rykova and Blaurenz Duo (Rebecca Blau & Rebecca Lawrence) will select 6 composers who will have the opportunity to work on a piece (already existing or written for the occasion) for flute (options: piccolo, flute (b-foot), alto flute (c-foot), bass flute (b-foot). and double bass (4 strings with C extension), with or without electronics (simple electronics only: pre-made samples, stereo; no additional performer) that will be performed on the 21st of September 2025. They will also be invited to attend all the events of the festival (rehearsals, concerts, discussion panels), and give a public presentation of their work.

The cost of the masterclass is EUR 400 and includes 6 nights accommodation — arrival on September 16th, 2025 and departure on September 22nd, 2025 — one private lesson with Elena Rykova, rehearsals, professional recording, and free entrance to the concerts. The Bludenzer Tage zeitgemäßer Musik is able to offer one scholarship, exempting a participant from the participation fee. This scholarship is offered on a needs basis.

Commission

At the end of the festival at least one composer, among the selected participants, will be chosen to receive a commission for a new piece to be premiered during the Bludenzer Tage zeitgemäßer Musik Festival 2026.

The selected composer will be offered by the festival:

  • Travel expenses (within Europe: economy flight or second-class rail ticket, whichever is the cheaper; from overseas: a contribution up to a maximum of €550)

  • Four nights hotel accommodation

  • The composer will receive a one-time payment of €1000. With this payment all rights concerning the public performance within the BTzM Festival 2026, the live recording and the possible broadcasting are compensated.

Application Guidelines

The BTzM Workshop/Composition-Competition is addressed to composers of all nationalities. There is no age limit. Applicants can submit up to two scores and two audio files. Chamber music works are preferable.

If scores are not relevant to your music, you may submit audio and/or any other accompanying documentation in PDF format in lieu of scores.

  • Applications open on March 24th, 2025 and end on April 20th 2025

  • Selected composers will be notified by Mai 10th, 2025

A jury consisting of composer Elena Rykova and the musicians of Blaurenz Duo will nominate 6 composers to attend the workshop/competition. Selected composers may either submit an existing piece that fits the given instrumentation for performance in Bludenz, or write a new piece (no longer than 7 minutes). The piece can also be unfinished, or simply a sketch.

  • The deadline for the submission of the score to be played at the BTzM 2025 ist July 7th 2025

To apply, please send the filled-in application form to info@allerart-bludenz.at

mentors

Elena Rykova

A composer, performance artist, and sound seeker, Elena Rykova, explores a wide variety of genres in music and visual art, ranging from interdisciplinary and performance art to chamber, ensemble, and electroacoustic music. She brings together instruments and found objects, extending one through another and creating performative musical situations, often with a strong visual aspect. Her scores are characterized by innovative use of nontraditional notation, having been exhibited in art museums internationally. She has written solo, chamber, and ensemble works, electroacoustic works, music theatre pieces, and musical performances for major new music groups around the world, as well as music for film and visual media.

She holds a Ph.D. from Harvard University where she also taught composition and electroacoustic music as a Teaching Fellow.

Elena is currently based in Lausanne, Switzerland. She serves on the programmation committee of Société de Musique Contemporaine (SMC) and as a board member of Suisse Music Edition (SME) as well as Artistic Director for the Basel-based ensemble Leminiscate further solidifying her commitment to shaping the future of new music.

Blaurenz Duo

Rebecca Lawrence and Rebecca Blau are searching for a common sound between double bass and flute. They met as members of the International Ensemble Modern Academy 2021/22 and with

not only the same name, but also the same birthday, built a deep relationship across the ensemble. Especially influential was their intensive work on the piece Ira-Arca by Beat Furrer, which became core of their repertoire, and the seed of curiosity from which they wished to develop the combination of flute/double bass. In 2023 the duo recieved the honorable mention for the Kranichsteiner Music Prize at the Darmstädter Ferienkurse für Neue Musik. Currently the Rebecca’s play together in Ensemble Scope, a young ensemble for experimental, multimedial contemporary music.