The Danish New Music Academy is a 6-day music creation residential course for musicians and composers. The third edition will be held from the 3rd to the 8th of August 2026 in Aarhus, Denmark.
We will gather a community of twelve participants - six musicians and six composers. The participants can be any age over 18, and can be at any stage in their career – pre-conservatory/university, current students, recent graduates, or more experienced practitioners. There is no traditional teaching on this course - the idea is that everyone attending will learn from each other via the creation of new music.
The course will consist of six days of rehearsals, workshops, events, discussion, and seminars that will approach the creation of new music from several different angles. Performers and composers will work together to stage events featuring works that will be created before and during the course.
Participants will be selected by the staff of the Danish New Music Academy, in partnership with Art Music Denmark and the Danish Composers’ Society. The Danish New Music Academy is run by Anja Nedremo (saxophonist, lecturer at the Royal Academy of Music, Aarhus), Sofie Thorsbro Dan (violinist, Curious Chamber Players), and Emil Vijgen (composer).
Shared accommodation for participants will be provided, as well as three meals a day. Participants should aim to cover travel costs themselves - however, there will be bursaries available. There will be a 750dkk (roughly €100) participation fee.
Alongside the participants we are inviting two visiting artists and a guest ensemble - we are happy to announce that we will joined by composer Trond Reinholdtsen(NO), Harpist Gunnhildur Einarsdóttir(IS) and 4 musicians from the ensemble Athelas Sinfonietta(DK). The guest will not be teaching, but instead will join in, performing and working alongside the course participants.
For participating composers: You will be tasked with creating a short (5-7 minutes) piece in the months leading up to the academy for the musicians to perform during the course*. The instrumentation for the piece will be selected from the available instruments of the participating musicians, as well as the staff of the Danish New Music Academy and the visiting ensemble. Your piece will be expected to be delivered to the musicians on the 1st of July – but there will be the opportunity to work on the piece during the course, and we are flexible to methods of working without traditional scores.
The piece can be purely instrumental or can contain mixed media, electronics, improvisation, performance practice, and so on. Any electronics must be discussed with the course organisers beforehand, and we will do our best to accommodate your technical setup requests. Composers may perform in their own works alongside the musicians.
For participating musicians: You will asked to prepare and perform a Solo-piece of your choice - which can't be longer than 12 minutes. If you need any technical assistance or electronics please let us know well in advance. You will receive repertoire to practice several months before the festival, and you will receive the composer participant’s scores soon after the 1st of July 2026. During the course you will rehearse these pieces alongside the other participants, the staff, and the visiting ensemble.
Open Spaces: Alongside the formalised events of the course, there will be an open and informal performance space every day (just for the parcipants). Participants will be encouraged to sign up for slots in these open spaces, and can present anything they have been working on for discussion. This could be a solo piece, an improvisation, a presentation, a text or anything else they would like to show or get feedback on.
Furthermore, all musicians and composers will collaborate with the staff in making joint, 24 hour pieces, that will be presented during the course.
All concerts will be open to members of the public.
The Open Call will conclude on the 1st of December 2025 23.59 pm EST. The application form is in English, but applications may be written in English, Danish, Norwegian, or Swedish.
The Danish New Music Academy has been created as a grassroots initiative. Our focus is on joint creation, and fostering a curious and open minded approach to new music. We use the word ‘academy’ not in the context of teaching or studying, but in the sense of a collection of specialists coming together to explore and deepen a tradition.
In collaboration with Art Music Denmark and supported by the Danish Arts Foundation.
*It will not be possible for the Danish New Music Academy to pay for any commission of a piece.