Announcing the 2027 New York City
Electroacoustic Music Festival
June 15-21, 2027
The New York City Electroacoustic Music Festival is now accepting
submissions for its festival in June, 2027. Now in its seventeenth year,
NYCEMF is the largest annual showcase of electroacoustic music in New York
City, and one of the largest festivals of its kind in the world. Full
details are posted on our website, www.nycemf.org.
Call for Works
This call is open to all composers and performers regardless of
nationality, age, career state, style, or area of expertise.
I. Music and Video
Composers or performers are invited to submit works in any style of
electroacoustic music in any the following categories:
- Electronic music for fixed media alone, with up to 16 channels of sound.
- Works involving live electronics, including computer processing, laptop
orchestras, or live coding, with up to 8 channels. - Works combining musical instruments or voice with live or fixed media
electronics, with up to 8 channels. - Video and multimedia works with up to 8 channels
-
This call is open to all composers and performers regardless of
nationality, age, career stage, style, or area of expertise. Individuals
may submit one or two works and may also submit a proposal for an
installation, curated concert, or paper. Works of any length may be
submitted, but, for practical reasons, we are more likely to be able to
include shorter works than longer ones. Any works longer than 20 minutes
in duration must be submitted as part of a curated concert proposal. Only
one work per composer will be selected unless the submissions are part of a
curated concert. -
Works in progress will be considered if a substantial portion of the
work is complete. The accepted work cannot exceed the duration indicated at
the time of submission, and the final versions cannot be substantially
different from the work submitted. -
Both audio and video works must be submitted in compressed formats.
Multichannel works must be submitted as high-quality stereo mixes. -
Works involving instrumentalists are welcome, but if the submitter is
unable to provide the performer(s), additional costs per performer will be
incurred. -
Performers (artists who are not the composer of the work) may submit up
to two works with the agreement that they will play them if selected. If a
performer wishes to submit more works, he or she may propose a curated
concert. -
A work is eligible to be submitted only if it has not been performed at
a previous NYCEMF concert. -
Works must be submitted online through the Conference Management
Toolkit (CMT). -
All submissions should be anonymous. Please make sure that no artist
markings are recognizable. Works that are not anonymous will not be
disqualified, however. -
The organizers will provide in each performance space a mixing console,
speaker system, microphones, cables, and a computer and audio interface for
the playback of fixed media audio/video. Composers of interactive works
will be responsible for providing their own computer, audio interface, and
any specialized peripherals.
Performers
The featured performers for NYCEMF 2027 will be cellist Madeleine Shapiro,
clarinet and tárogató player Esther Lamneck, violinist Maja Cerar,
clarinetist Marianne Gythfeldt, percussionist Patti Cudd, saxophonist Enzo
Filippetti, flutist Beatrix Wagner, pianists Shiau-uen Ding and Markus
Kaitila, and soprano Eleonora Claps.
Instruments
Instruments can be rented, though only those common to orchestral or
chamber music. Any large instruments that need to be rented, such as harp,
marimba, or vibraphone, will require an additional fee for rental and
cartage.
Multichannel Works
NYCEMF concerts will take place in one of two performance spaces. One
theater includes a stage for live performances, and will feature an
8-channel surround sound speaker configuration. The other theater will be
for fixed media playback only, with a 16-channel surround sound speaker
configuration. Stereo works can be diffused at the mixing console. Speaker
configurations will be fixed and cannot be moved for individual works.
Multichannel pieces must be initially submitted as a stereo mixdown for
adjudication. Multichannel playback materials selected for concert
performance can be provided as a set of mono audio files or an Ambisonics
file to be decoded for our speaker configuration.
Curated Concerts
Proposals are also invited for the presentation half of a two-hour concert,
not to exceed 54 minutes in duration of music. These concerts represent an
opportunity for someone to put together an entire concert consisting of
works of their choice. The concert may be organized around a composer,
theme or idea, and it may include works of historical importance as well as
more recent works. A performer may also propose a concert that he or she
will play.
Timeline
Submission deadline: December 31, 2026
Submission fee: none
Anticipated notification date: March 15, 2027
Review of Submissions
All submissions will be subject to peer review.
Post-review
Final audio and video files must be submitted by May 15, 2027.
II. Papers
We encourage the submission of papers relating to electroacoustic music.
-
Composers may discuss their own music or the music of other composers
that interest them. -
Researchers may discuss any topic relating to electroacoustic music.
-
The call is open to all composers and researchers regardless of
nationality, age or career stage or area of expertise. -
Papers may include demonstrations, or demonstrations may be presented
in an installation. -
Papers presented at previous NYCEMF events are not allowed unless
significantly revised. -
All works must be submitted online as a PDF file through the Conference
Management Toolkit (CMT). -
All submissions should be anonymous, although non-anonymous submissions
will not be disqualified. -
Once accepted, camera-ready papers will need to include all author
names. -
At least one author or co-author must register. A presenter only needs
to register once if he or she also presents a work at the festival.
Timeline
Submission deadline: December 31, 2026
Submission fee: none
Anticipated notification date: March 15, 2027
Review
All submissions will be subject to peer review.
Post-review
Following notification of acceptance, authors will be requested to submit
their camera-ready PDF files by May 15, 2027.
III. Installations
We invite submissions of installation works for exhibition at the
conference. Categories include but are not limited to:
- Audience Participation Installations
- Data-driven Installations
- Happenings
- Interactive Installations
- Multimedia Installations
- Performance-based installations
-
The call is open to all artists/composers regardless of nationality,
age or career stage. -
Works presented at previous NYCEMF events are not allowed unless
significantly changed. -
Works must be submitted online, through the Conference Management
Toolkit (CMT). -
Submissions should be anonymous: please make sure that no artist
markings are recognizable. Works that are not anonymous will not be
disqualified, however. -
For conference presentations, the artist or at least one of the
collaborators must register. A presenter needs to register only once if
making more than one presentation in different categories. All necessary
installation equipment must be provided by the artist.
Review of Works
Submissions will be subject to peer review.
Timeline
Submission deadline: December 31, 2026
Submission fee: none
Anticipated notification date: March 15, 2027
VII. Participation and Fees
Accepted works will require a registration fee: approximately $350. In
addition, if you require NYCEMF to provide performers, there will be an
additional fee of $150 each. This fee also applies if you require large
instruments like harp, marimba or vibraphone.
For a curated concert the registration fee will be $700.
Students may receive a 50% discount of the registration fee. In order to
qualify for this, the student will be required to submit a copy of a
student ID card that is valid for 2027. This offer is limited to full-time
students in a music program only. Part-time, post-doctoral, or ABD
students (who have finished coursework except for the dissertation) are not
eligible. This applies to individual submissions only, not to curated
concerts.
Payment is required for all persons whose works are accepted. This fee
covers free admission to all events at the festival. Attendance is not
required, but even if persons submitting do not attend, the fee must still
be paid. Submitters whose works are selected are required to confirm
participation in the Festival by May 1, 2027.
–
Hubert S. Howe, Jr.
Professor of Music Emeritus, Queens College C.U.N.Y.
20 Scott Drive East
Westhampton, NY 11977
(914) 980-7584
https://huberthowe.org