Ung Nordisk Musik Danmark announces a Call for Works for the 2024 festival in Örebro

ABOUT THE FESTIVAL

Ung Nordisk Musik (UNM) is announcing a Call for Works for the 2024 festival in Örebro, Sweden. UNM is an umbrella organisation for contemporary music and sound art with boards in the five Nordic countries which each year take turns organising the UNM festival. UNM was founded in 1946, making it one of the world’s oldest festivals of its kind. There, works by composers and sound artists under the age of 31 from and/or based in the Nordic and Baltic countries are presented. The purpose of the festival is to meet across national borders to exchange thoughts, musical ideas and establish new connections.

This call is open to any artist or artist collective who are citizens or residents in Denmark, are 30 years or younger at the time of application, and work with music or sound as the primary element of their work. The works will be selected by a country specific jury.

Five pieces will be selected from the following countries: Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Finland and Iceland. One piece each will be selected from Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. There will also be one participant from each country taking part in a residency. Details about this can be found below. 

The festival will take place from 19 August to 25 August 2024 in Örebro, Sweden.

UNM 2024 will feature an exciting collaboration with a professional chamber orchestra, and we encourage submissions for works for this instrumentation. Information on exact instrumentation can be found under “Terms and Conditions”. There will also be a collaboration with Open Art, a biennial for outdoor- and site-specific arts in Örebro, and may contact participants in UNM about potential artist-collaborations and co-programming works for the respective festivals. 

This year we are also announcing a residency in collaboration with Ställbergs Gruva, a cultural center based in an old mining facility outside of Örebro. For the residency, one project from each Nordic and Baltic country will be selected. This call is applied for separately to the Call for Works. More information about this call and the application form can be found at: https://unm.se/call-for-artist-in-residence-2024/ 

Please read through the terms and conditions for the open call carefully before making a submission.

THEME

The theme for the UNM festival in 2024 is “Specificity+”. Through site-specific explorations within the Örebro region, we ask questions about the location’s specificity: what significance does it have, to whom does it belong and what is its relationship to change and transformation? From a musical point of view, we will discuss, explore and situate ourselves in relation to the site’s specific characteristics, their changing relationship to themselves and their surroundings, as well as how this affects the artistic process.

TERMS AND CONDITIONS

1. Applicants must be 30 years or younger at the time of applying. An exception to the age requirement is made if the applicant is studying at the bachelor level in a program related to sound art and/or composition for the first time. Applicants must be a Danish citizen or residing in Denmark.
2. The application can be found here: https://forms.gle/n9BRfJ4NARA1ourk7
   Applications must be submitted in English, they must be anonymous and must be marked by a pseudonym of the applicant’s choice. Each piece submitted should have an individual pseudonym. Files (i.e. scores, recordings and other descriptive texts of the work) must be marked by the chosen pseudonym. Please ensure that all full names, dedications and performer information are erased from all scores, media, metadata, etc. All material must be sent via the application portal. If you have any questions or requests/difficulties with the application portal, write to us at: applyunmdk@gmail.com
3. Applicants will be asked to send personal information separately from the evaluation materials which will only be seen by the boards of UNM and used for administrative purposes. 
4. We ask that materials such as scores and texts are to be uploaded onto the online portal and recordings, audio and video should be shared on either Google Drive, Dropbox an anonymous YouTube channel or similar. The links to the materials should not expire. Please remember to remove all metadata or information which may reveal your identity to the jurors. In the case of Google Drive folders, please make sure the folder is shared with applyunmdk@gmail.com
5. Applicants may participate up to a total of five UNM festivals regardless of which country they participate with. If an applicant is eligible for applying in more than one country, they are only permitted to apply for one country, otherwise both applications will be disqualified. Applicants are to be made aware of a new rule: if you have been chosen as a representative in the previous year (2023), you will not be permitted to apply this year. However, you will be allowed to submit again in future years. 
6. The selection of works made by the jury of professional artists will be altered according to gender quotas if necessary.
7. Each applicant can send in a maximum of two submissions. For example, you may apply with up to two works, or one work and one submission for the residency. In case an applicant is selected for both the residency and with their submitted work, they may choose if they want to participate in the residency or with their selected work.
8. A total of five works will be selected from each of these countries: Denmark, Finland, Norway, Iceland and Sweden. A total of one piece will be selected from each of these countries: Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania.
9. As an important part of the application, applicants MUST nominate a juror for next year’s jury. The nominated juror must be a professional composer, musician or sound artist not affiliated with UNM or institutes of higher learning in the arts in Denmark. It’s very important for UNM that applicants send in well considered suggestions, as an unbiased and independent jury is key to ensuring a democratic and diverse selection of works. 
10. There are no criteria for instrumentation, size of ensemble, style, or format. UNM Sweden will adapt the festival to accommodate the selected works, but unfortunately there is no possibility of offering a full-scale symphony orchestra. However, this instrumentation will be available: 7 vln I, 6 vln II, 4 vla, 4 vlc, 2 cb, 2 fl, 2 ob, 2 cl, 2 hn, 2 tpt, 1 perc.

The application deadline for both the residency and the call for works is 15 June 2023 at 23.59 CET. Works received after the deadline will not be considered. 

We are looking forward to your applications!