![[Open Call] In Listening 2027 – Hybrid Radio/Live Works | CTM Festival](/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcdn.sanity.io%2Fimages%2F40s0b59i%2Fproduction%2F1006bd8a053d358f1893dc23ab9cafc729a548e2-1600x1111.webp%3Fw%3D1600%26auto%3Dformat&w=3840&q=75)
INFO
[Open Call] In Listening 2027 – Hybrid Radio/Live Works | CTM Festival
- Category: Open Call / Sound Art / Radio Art / Commissioned Works
- Organizer / Venue: CTM Festival in cooperation with Deutschlandfunk Kultur and ORF Austrian Broadcasting Service, Berlin / Germany
- Deadline / Dates: 6 September 2026, 23:59 CEST (Festival: 22–31 January 2027)
About the Programme
»In Listening« is the updated iteration of CTM's long-running Radio Lab — a collaboration between CTM Festival and Deutschlandfunk Kultur, with support from Austria's ORF public radio. The programme zeroes in on sound-focused experiences: works grounded in experimental sound practices and audio art, driven by conceptual approaches or sonic narratives.
The call supports exploration at the blurred edges between sound, noise, music, storytelling, poetry, and documenting — while reflecting on ideas, stories, current events, or the very processes of sound and listening. Both text and music can form integral parts, but sound must remain the primary medium.
Theme: Process…ing
All works must respond to the CTM 2027 theme "Process…ing" — which challenges vertical, linear systems, and champions horizontal frameworks where the process itself becomes the outcome. Active listening — as a form of individual or relational process — should inform proposals.
Applications must include information on how the work could be developed for two complementary yet different outputs: a live event at CTM 2027 and a radio broadcast on Deutschlandfunk Kultur and Ö1 / ORF.
Live Format
Performances take place in the silent green Kuppelhalle, Berlin — intimate setup, audience seated around the performer(s), surrounded by a 6.1-channel PA system. Creative use of channel distribution is welcome, including stereo or mono signals. Minimal lighting and scenography may reinforce the listening experience. Performances in the dark are also suitable. Video and complex scenography fall outside the scope.
Radio / Podcast Format
Proposals must consider mechanisms for a successful individual listening experience — a recording of the live performance alone does not suffice. Consider: what active listening means through broadcasts, various environments (home stereo, car radio, headphones), and diverse forms of listening. The broadcast airs in a late-night slot to a largely German-speaking, non-specialist audience.
Budget & Conditions
- Commission fee: 6 000 € per selected work (two works will be commissioned)
- Winners give up to two performances during CTM 2027
- Winners cover research/creation costs (collaborator fees, materials) from the commission
- Technical/staging costs for CTM and potential ORF musikprotokoll presentations covered additionally
- Travel to Berlin and lodging during production/festival covered by CTM
- Language accessibility guidance and possible radio production costs (translations, voiceovers, studio time) provided by Deutschlandfunk Kultur
Output Timeline
Commissioned works premiere at CTM 2027 (22–31 January 2027), broadcast on Deutschlandfunk Kultur – Klangkunst (Spring 2027), and presented via ORF and/or musikprotokoll im steirischen herbst (Autumn 2027). Available for streaming online for at least one year.
How to Apply
Applications in English. Required PDF uploads (max 20 MB each, labelled with first + last name):
- Project description including rough budget (max 4 pages)
- Technical requirements (equipment needs and staging)
- CV (for groups: combined into one PDF)
For duos/group projects — select one person as the main/contact applicant.
Jury
Jan Rohlf (co-founder CTM Festival), Marcus Gammel (Deutschlandfunk Kultur), Anna Soucek (ORF Ö1), plus one independent artist (disclosed with results).
Curatorial Note from CTM regarding AI: The jury values authorship and clarity of ideas — your perspective, your artistic reasoning, what drives the proposal. AI tools are recognized as useful for brainstorming, structuring, or translating. Applications where AI has replaced rather than supported the applicant's voice may not stand out.
