Open Call: House Concerts at Ultima 2026

For composition and performance students from all study programmes at NMH

Would you like to bring music into new spaces?

In September 2026, Ultima invites audiences into private homes across Oslo through a new series of house concerts. Here, audiences encounter both the music and the performers at close range, in living rooms, kitchens, and backyards.

Ultima’s House Concerts are organised in collaboration with the Norwegian Academy of Music (NMH), and it is you – NMH student – who will fill these homes with music. In some concerts, you might share the stage with young musicians from the Lviv Philharmonic and students from the International Ensemble Modern Academy in Frankfurt, who are partners in this project.

If you work with new and experimental music across genres and would like to explore new ways of connecting closely with audiences, this could be just the thing for you.

Application deadline: 20 May 2026

Apply here

Practical information

Ultima’s House Concerts will take place between 10 and 19 September 2026 in homes across the Oslo area.

Who can apply

• You may apply if you are in your third year of study or above and are still enrolled at NMH in September 2026.
• You may apply either as a solo artist or with an ensemble of up to four musicians. Composers may apply together with performers, or perform their own music.

Programme

• The repertoire should include new music from various musical traditions or forms, and may, in addition, include earlier repertoire.
• The programme you apply with should be between 20 and 40 minutes long.
• Shorter contributions may be combined with contributions from other students. The final concert format and programme will be determined once all contributions have been reviewed.
• All performances are acoustic, unless you bring your own amplification equipment. We can assist with transport for harps and other large instruments.
• Projects or repertoire for children are also welcome.

What you get

Tickets to Ultima’s closing concert and party at Tøyen Factory 19 September, plus festival merch.

Ahead of the festival, all participants will be invited to an exclusive half-day seminar with exceptional musicians and mediators on how to create memorable and meaningful encounters with audiences in intimate and informal concert settings.

For chamber music groups, the concert may count as a chamber music performance within the course and carry course credits. For other students and ensembles, participation does not carry credits, but it offers an important opportunity to develop through concert practice and artistic communication within a professional festival setting.

How to apply

Send us information about the programme, instrumentation, participants, duration, and any simple technical needs, and upload a short video of no more than three minutes in which you tell us a little about yourself and your motivation for taking part.

Applications will be assessed by a jury consisting of NMH teachers and Ultima staff.

Apply here

Application deadline: 20 May 2026

Applicants will receive a response by 12 June 2026.

Questions may be directed to Morten Halle: morten.halle@nmh.no.

In collaboration with the Norwegian Academy of Music and Lviv Philharmonics. With support from Sparebankstiftelsen DNB and the European Union as part of the ULYSSES Platform.