Student 3D Audio Production Competition 2026
Public listening
Image: ORF musikprotokoll (AI-generated)
The Student 3D Audio Production Competition is celebrating its tenth edition. Unlike stereo or conventional surround sound, which distributes sound on a single plane around the listeners, 3D audio makes full use of spatiality: Sound sources can be precisely positioned—even above the listeners’ heads—in any direction and at any distance. Students from around the world submit works in 3D audio in the categories of Contemporary / Computer Music, Audio Drama / Soundscape, and Studio Production. An international jury selects the finalists.
At the ORF musikprotokoll, the award-winning works in the first category can be heard on the fifty-channel speaker system at Dom im Berg, which allows listeners to directly experience the spatial design of these pieces. Ten years after the first edition, composing with 3D audio has become a firmly established discipline. The public listening event showcases outstanding works from the international scene at the highest level.
The Student 3D Audio Production Competition 2026 is a production of IEM – Institute for Electronic Music and Acoustics and the University of Music and Performing Arts Graz, in cooperation with VDT – Verband deutscher Tonmeister*innen, ORF musikprotokoll, and Sounding Future.