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Euregional Composers Unite : Echoes of the Meuse-Rhine invites emerging musical talent

Four leading new music organisations — Intro In Situ (Maastricht), Ensemble Hopper (Liège), Centre Henri Pousseur (Liège) and the Hochschule für Musik und Tanz Köln (Cologne) — have joined forces to launch Echoes of the Meuse-Rhine, an innovative cross-border initiative supported by the Euregio Meuse-Rhine and the Small Project Fund.

This ambitious project will enable six emerging composers to develop new works for ensemble and electronics, exploring the creative potential of spatialised audio. The resulting pieces will be premiered in 2027, performed by the Ensemble Hopper and the Centre Henri Pousseur (electronics) at heritage sites across the Euregio Meuse-Rhine, thereby transforming historic spaces into immersive soundscapes.

Supporting emerging talent
By bringing together composers, musicians and audiences from diverse backgrounds, the project aims to foster artistic dialogue and push the boundaries of contemporary music. The six selected composers will receive mentoring and resources to develop their works, with a particular focus on experimentation and site-specific composition. Audiences can look forward to performances in extraordinary venues. By staging these concerts in non-traditional spaces, Echoes of the Meuse-Rhine seeks to make contemporary music accessible to a wider audience.

A model of cross-border collaboration
Echoes of the Meuse-Rhine is made possible thanks to the support of the Interreg Meuse-Rhine programme.

Open Call – EXTENDED TO 20 AVRIL

We are looking for young composers within the Euregio Meuse-Rhine!

We invite young composers (max 30 years old) to submit proposals for the development of new works for contemporary music for Ensemble Hopper with electronics that explore spatial audio. The selected composers will have the opportunity to realize the work with support of the partners of the Echoes of the Meuse-Rhine project (Intro in Situ, Ensemble Hopper, Centre Henri Pousseur, Hochschule für Musik und Tanz Köln). We offer artisticguidance, workshops, production support, and the compensation of travel costs. The new pieces will be performed by Ensemble Hopper at unique heritage sites in the Euregion Meuse Rhine.WHAT ARE WE LOOKING FOR

We ask applicants to submit a proposal for a composition that:
– blends acoustic instrumentation with electronic music and spatial audio
– goes beyond the traditional concert hall setting and explores location based concepts
– demonstrates creativity, originality and feasibility
– and, can be performed and be relevant in 6 unique heritage sites, incorporating the acoustics in the composition.

In addition:
– a short biography about yourself and professional work
– your motivation for taking part in the project (including your connection with the Euregio)
– and, 2 finished scores or performance material.

WHAT WE OFFER

Professional support from the partners of the project (Intro In Situ, Ensemble Hopper, Centre Henri Pousseur, Hochchule für Musik und Tanz Köln with profs Michael Beil, Thomas Moore, Brigitta Muntendorf, Oxana Omelchuk
and Miroslaf Srnka)
– Artistic guidance during the creative process
– Free Workshops on and Masterclasses about electronic music and spatial audio with Rutger Muller (Maastricht), Centre Henri Pousseur (Liege) and the Studio for Electronic Music (Cologne)
– 6 Performances of the compositions at heritage sites in the Euregio.

IMPORTANT INFORMATION

Deadline for submissions: 20.04.26
Announcement of selection: 30 April 2026
Development runs until the end of 2026 and the compositions will be performed in spring and summer of 2027.

Who can participate: composers that are artistically active in the euregio Meuse-Rhine (Incl.autodidact composers)

There is no financial compensation for this project, however travel costs will be compensated

ASSESSMENT

Submissions will be assessed by a committee consisting of representatives from Intro In Situ, Ensemble Hopper, Centre Henri-Pousseur and Hochschule für Musik und Tanz Köln and will be assessed on:
– creative content and artistic expressiveness;
– originality;
– expressed motivation to work with the artistic coaches and Ensemble Hopper;
– and, the extent to which the work can be performed live and takes into account Spatial Audio;

SUBMISSION

Send your proposal (max. 2 A4) to ECHOESMR@proton.me