Young Composer

The participant's age must correspond to their age at the time of application for Round I.

Participants must submit 2 works with a total duration of up to 6 minutes, including:

• 1 work by a composer of the past
• 1 original composition by the participant

Participants must submit 1 original composition with a duration of up to 5 minutes.

Instrumentation and genre are free (solo / ensemble / with accompaniment).

• Grand Prix winners will be invited to have their Round II composition performed at the Gala Concert in Vienna
• The participant must perform the work themselves (if applicable) and arrange performers independently, if needed

Compositions may be of elementary, intermediate, or advanced level. Accepted styles include: Classical, Romantic, Contemporary, New Age, Jazz.

Only
original compositions
will be accepted. Arrangements and transcriptions are not allowed.

• Only one video link may be submitted per application for each round
• If the programme includes more than one work, all works must be combined into a single video and submitted through one link. Editing between separate works is permitted
• Each individual work must be recorded as a single continuous take. Cuts, edits, splicing, or other alterations within a work are strictly prohibited
• The complete programme must not exceed the time limit specified for the relevant age group
• The video must be recent (no older than 6 months at the time of submission)
•  The video must not contain any reference to the participant's name (including subtitles or on-screen text)
• The video must clearly show the performer's face and hands 
• The recording must be submitted via YouTube 

• All original compositions must be submitted in PDF format
• Handwritten scores are not accepted — all scores must be professionally notated using music notation software

© Copyright Notice

Plagiarism is strictly prohibited. The participant bears full responsibility for the originality of the submitted work. All materials must be free from copyright infringement.

Compliance with Competition Rules

If, after an application has been submitted, any discrepancies with the ICMC Competition Rules are identified (for example, the repertoire does not meet the requirements for the relevant round, the video recording does not comply with the specified conditions, or information about the participant, their teacher, the composer or the work performed is incomplete or inaccurate), the organisers will notify the participant by email, specifying the clarifications or corrections required.

The participant must reply directly to that email, providing the requested information, corrected details or new video recordings.

All required corrections must be submitted no later than 15 November 2026, the official registration deadline for Round I of the competition.

If the participant fails to respond to the notification or resolve the specified issues by the deadline, their application will not be forwarded to the jury for evaluation.

In such cases, the registration fee will not be refunded.

Please first consult the Questions section. If your question is not answered, contact: info@icmceurope.com