KUG Graz Composition Prize 2027 (13th edition)

A single, very specific commission-by-competition: a ten- to fifteen-minute work for piano duo with string quartet — either two pianos or one piano four hands, plus two violins, viola and cello. The prize is €5,000, funded by the insurer GRAWE and paid gross, so Austrian tax applies to what you receive.

What makes it worth entering is what happens to the piece. The winning work becomes the compulsory contemporary piece for every piano duo admitted to the 13th International Competition "Franz Schubert and Modern Music" in February 2028, premiered in the final round by the competitors alongside a KUG string quartet, and those performances are recorded. Scores shortlisted by the preliminary jury are also taken into the university's library, so even a losing entry can end up catalogued and playable.

Eligibility is narrow in one respect and wide open in another: composers must have been born in 1986 or later, but any nationality is accepted, as is statelessness. Entry costs €30 and goes through the MUVAC platform, with submissions opening on 10 December 2026 and closing on 10 March 2027. The score is submitted anonymously, with a scan of your passport or ID handled separately. The call does not say whether previously performed works are accepted, which is worth checking before you submit an existing piece.

Two juries read the entries: a preliminary panel of KUG composition professors, then a main jury of five international composers and instrumentalists, named closer to the date. No assessment criteria are published, so the instrumentation and the duration are the only hard constraints stated.