Ernst von Siemens Music Foundation — Project Funding (Projektförderung)

This foundation pays the artistic costs of new-music projects anywhere in the world: commissioning a composer, premieres and re-performances, festivals, concert series, academies for young musicians and composers, symposia, musicological publications, and education work that brings contemporary music to young audiences. Small and large projects are explicitly treated as equals.

The catch that stops most individuals: only the organising institution can apply. Composers and performers cannot apply for themselves — a festival, ensemble, venue or promoter has to submit on their behalf, and the signatory must be authorised to sign for that organisation. One application per institution per deadline, one supported project per calendar year, and no more than three projects over three consecutive years.

No amount is published, and the foundation never funds a project in full. It expects at least one other funder contributing on a comparable scale; if your request dwarfs everyone else's, it will not be supported. You must supply a complete cost and financing plan for the whole project even when asking only for a composer's fee.

The application is online in German or English, written in full sentences rather than bullets, with a detailed budget and up to eight further pages of programmes, biographies and contents. Letters of intent from the composers, ensembles and co-production partners are required, along with venue confirmations, and for lesser-known composers, scores and recordings hosted on a cloud link that stays live for months — material that has expired by the time the board meets counts as never submitted. The next deadline is 1 October 2026 at 14:00 CEST, for projects starting in 2027; decisions come by the end of the year. Free webinars explaining the criteria run in early September.