Online application Giga-Hertz Award 2020

Submission Period March 2 – June 21, 2020

Since 2007, the Giga-Hertz Award for electronic music and soundart has been jointly awarded by the ZKM | Hertz-Lab (formerly Institute for Music and Acoustics) and the SWR Experimentalstudio.

The Giga-Hertz Award is endowed with a total of 20,000 € prize money. The main prize for the lifetime achievement, which is 10,000 € is proposed by the jury and is not selected from the entries. The two internationally oriented Giga-Hertz Production Prizes, endowed with 5,000 €, serve to initiate and promote new projects.

Registration starts on March 2, 2020

Online Registration


Application deadline: June 21, 2020.

Red plaque with "Giga-Hertz-Award" in white letters

Candidates are judged on the basis of a composition not more than five years old and a proposal for a new projected work. The focus of the Production Awards is to honor a work, and not a person. The competition is advertised publicly each year and is open to composers of all ages.

All compositions submitted should meet at least one of the following criteria:

  • Compositions using live electronics 
  • Composition for fixed media
  • Mixed music
  • Concert installation
  • Transmedial composition
  • Experimental sound performance
  • Interdisciplinary performance (with relevant music or sound components)

Prize Money

The Production Award consists of a project realization grant with which the award winners realize their submitted exposé at the ZKM | Hertz-Lab in Karlsruhe or the SWR Experimentalstudio. This includes technical support and guidance by the studio.

The winners will receive 2,000 € directly as a scholarship. In addition, they can use up to 3,000 € as a production grant for the costs incurred during the production and premiere of the new work. The world premiere of the new work will take place exclusively within the framework of the Giga-Hertz-Prize Festival.

The production grant will cover travel costs to/from the studio and to the premiere, as well as board and lodging during the production work, but also any fees incurred. The jury decides on the basis of aesthetic and practical criteria whether the proposed work will be realised in the ZKM | Hertz-Lab or in the SWR Experimentalstudio.

The working stay should last at least two months at the ZKM | Hertz_Lab or two to four weeks at the SWR Experimentalstudio. It is planned to premiere the new work in the following year during the award ceremony of the Giga-Hertz Prize and possibly broadcast it on radio. The winners have no legal claim to the performance or broadcast of their submitted or created work.

Entry Details

  • Beginning of the online applications: March 2, 2020
  • Application deadline: June 21, 2020! 

Please read the following information carefully before you enter.

If you have any questions or concerns, please contact: gigahertz@zkm.de.

The following are required for your application:

  • biography with details of artistic career (max. number of characters 1000 characters incl. spaces)
  • portrait photograph of the artist (min. 300 dpi)
  • description of the submitted work (work should not be more than five years old; max. 2000 characters incl. spaces), technical information on this work, and optional, the score and image files of the work 
  • project exposé about a new, yet to be realized work at the ZKM | Hertz-Lab, as well as technical information about this work 

Please note:

  • The deadline for sending in the complete application is June 21, 2020.
  • The work should not be more than five years old; it should not have already received any awards, or been previously submitted for the Giga-Hertz-Award competition.
  • Employees of the organisers, sponsors, prizegivers, and patrons of the Giga-Hertz-Award as well as the members of the jury are excluded from participation.
  • Please apply with only one piece regardless of the category!
  • Incomplete applications will not be accepted.
  • As soon as we have received all necessary documents, entrants will receive an email confirming their participation.
  • All submissions are archived, with the participation the applicants accept the archiving.
  • In the interest of all participants, the entrant (or a representative chosen by the entrant) should be reachable at the address stated on the application form.
  • The prize winners guarantee that they will be present at the award ceremony on 28.11.2020 in order to receive their awards in person.
  • If a work wins a prize, the material that was submitted will be used in the catalog, on DVD, CD, and/or the ZKM website. Therefore, we request participants to take great care in preparing the sound, image, and text material.
  • The registered work should clearly make use of electronic/technical means. At least the use of electronic means should be documented.
  • The awardees obligate themselves to realize the works produced within the framework of the award during a residency at the ZKM | Hertz-Lab or at the SWR Experimentalstudio respectively. The duration of the residency should not fall short of eight weeks at the ZKM or two to four weeks at the SWR Experimentalstudio respectively.
  • The project proposal can be modified to match the production resources available at the ZKM | Hertz-Lab or the SWR Experimentalstudio.
  • Works that do not comply with the above requirements will be removed from the competition and not presented to the jury!