ISCM World New Music Days 2026 - Romania: Call for Works
Calling Composers! CMC - the official Irish section of the International Society for Contemporary Music (ISCM) invites submissions for World New Music Days (WNMD) Romania (Bucharest) 2026.
The ISCM World New Music Days Festival is an annual festival of new music from around the world, attended by many international delegates, composers, producers, promoters and programmers. The 2026 edition takes place in Bucharest, Romania from 23-31 May, and is subtitled “Columna Infinita”, after the famous sculpture by Constantin Brâncuși, which will be celebrating its 150th anniversary in 2026.
As the ISCM Irish Section, CMC is entitled to submit 6 works from this call for works that meet the specified categories and criteria for consideration by an international jury. One of these works is guaranteed a performance during the festival.
For this festival, there are 14 categories for different ensembles and specified groups/mediums listed below. You can submit works by sending a PDF version of the score along with an audio or video recording of the work (if available), or audio/video documentation if the work does not have a written score.
How to make a submission via the ISCM Irish Section
As the ISCM Irish Section, CMC welcomes applications from composers who were born, or are permanently resident on the island of Ireland.
Before making your application please carefully read the following documents:
Large text formats of these pdf files are available here;
Submit your application with all accompanying materials by 23:00, 1 September 2025, through the online form.
Application Notes
- The Irish Section Call for Works is open to composers born or permanently resident on the island of Ireland. Composers will be asked to confirm this in their application form and may be asked for documentation to support this if their work is selected.
- Composers with dual-citizenship / nationality may only apply through one official section.
- Submissions to the CMC ISCM WNMD call are free of charge.
- Only one work per composer may be submitted, by either official submission or individual submission.
- CMC strives to be representative of all society in Ireland in all of our activities, and inclusive of all social backgrounds, ethnicities, traditions, sexual orientations, genders, disabilities and religions. It is our aim to submit a balanced and representative shortlist of six high-quality works.
- Works submitted to the previous call for the previous ISCM Festival (Portugal) are not eligible.
- Composers of works performed at the previous two ISCM World Music Days Festivals are not eligible to apply.
- The deadline for submission is 23:00, Monday 1 September 2025.
- Late applications will not be considered.
Queries: please contact Jonathan Grimes, jgrimes@cmc.ie
Selection of works
Each submission will be reviewed by a selection panel, which will select six works for submission to the International Jury. The submissions need to cover at least four of the listed categories. Provided CMC meets these requirements, it is guaranteed that at least one work submitted by the ISCM Irish Section will be included in the World New Music Days Festival.
We will let you know no later than 22 September 2025 if your work has been shortlisted for submission.
CMC will publicise the 6 successfully submitted composers and works via our website and communication channels, as well as the final selected work(s) in due course. We will also work with the selected composer(s) with the aim of securing sufficient funding for them to attend the festival.
Applying directly to the ISCM
Composers (or publishers or agents working on their behalf) may apply directly to the ISCM international jury.
Individual submissions are not guaranteed a performance. The international jury will consider all submissions and any ones selected by them will be included in the festival. An entry fee of €55.00 applies to Individual Submissions, payable at the time of submission by Paypal using the link provided on the ISCM website.
More information on how to apply via this route can be found here.