- Event
- Festival
next_generation XI
International Festival for Young Electronic Music
Wed, June 17 – Sat, June 20, 2026
- Location
- ZKM | Center for Art and Media
- Entrance fee
- Free admission
As Europe’s largest gathering of university studios for electronic music, next_generation offers emerging composers a platform to present their latest musical developments.
Over the course of four days, next_generation presents an exciting and densely packed program featuring the latest works in the fields of fixed media, spatial music, and live electronics. The festival thus provides a representative overview of the current creative output of the next generation of composers working at the intersection of technology and art.
The festival program is complemented by the symposium On Artistic Processes and Sonic Activism, which focuses on current artistic, social, and technological issues. Artists, researchers, and students explore the interrelations between sound art, social engagement, and artistic production processes.
This year, students from numerous university electronic music studios in Germany, Austria, France, Italy, and Switzerland will participate. The participants will present their works in concert performances. In addition, installations will be on view at various locations throughout the ZKM, and lectures and discussions will provide opportunities for exchange.
Another special highlight is the evening event next_generation at Night on June 19. In a relaxed atmosphere, we invite audiences to wind down the concert day together. With a bar, drinks, and musical contributions, the evening offers space for encounters, conversations, and networking.
Concerts
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Wednesday, June 17
Concert 1
5:00pm, ZKM Media TheaterOpening Impulse: Listening in Common - Sound, Care, and Solidarity in Times of Crisis
Magda Mayas (Pianist, Composer, Professor at Hochschule Luzern - Musik)University of Music Franz Liszt Weimar, Studio for Electro-Acoustic Music (SeaM)
Bern Academy of the Arts (HKB), Sound ArtsConcert 2
8:00pm, ZKM KubusRobert-Schumann-Hochschule (RSH) Düsseldorf, Institute for Music and Media (IMM)
University of Music Karlsruhe, SAM•ComputerStudio and IMWI | Institute for Music Informatics and Musicology -
Thursday, June 18
Concert 3
5:00pm, ZKM Media TheaterState University of Music and the Performing Arts (HMDK) Stuttgart, Studio for Electronic Music (StEM)
Conservatorio G. F. Ghedini Cuneo, METS – Musica Elettronica & Tecnini del SuonoConcert 4
8:00pm, ZKM KubusHochschule für Musik Basel (FHNW), Electronic Studio Basel (ESB)
Freiburg University of Music, Studio for Electronic Music
Karlsruhe University of Arts and Design (HfG) Karlsruhe, Media Art Sound -
Friday, June 19
Concert 5
5:00pm, ZKM Media TheaterUniversity of Music and Drama (HfMT) Hamburg, Multimedia Composition
Haute École des Arts du Rhin (HEAR) StrasbourgConcert 6
8:00pm, ZKM KubusTrossingen State University of Music, Music Design
Cologne University of Music and Dance (HfMT), Studio for Electronic Music
Zurich University of the Arts (ZHdK), Institute for Computer Music and Sound Technology (ICST) -
Saturday, June 20
Concert 7
5:00pm, ZKM Media TheaterFrankfurt University of Music and Performing Arts (HfMDK), Studio for Electronic Music and Acoustics (selma)
University of Music Lübeck (MHL), Electronic StudioConcert 8
8:00pm, ZKM KubusFolkwang University of the Arts, Institute for Computer Music and Electronic Media (ICEM)
University of Music and Performing Arts Graz (Kunstuniversität Graz, KUG), Institute of Electronic Music and Acoustics (IEM)
