From 2026, for its 75th anniversary, the ARD International Music Competition will take place with four instrumental categories, including organ alongside string quartet, percussion and bassoon. This means that the endangered competition has now the wind in its sails. The Ernsting Arts and Culture Foundation proposes to support the competition in the first place until 2028.
The ARD-Music Competition is launching video streams of the competition rounds and prizewinners’ concerts in a new way, starting in 2025. The new YouTube channel ARD Klassik will be made the primary outlet for wide-range live participation in the competition and the interactive potential of the platform as a gateway to the community will be developed into a competition event. In addition, ARD Klassik will be presenting professionally selected highlights in the ARD Mediathek.
Alongside the video streams, there will be new digital offerings in social networks, making the Music Competition accessible to a significantly younger audience open to music beyond the classical scene: a new TikTok format will be specially designed and the partnerships with digital content-makers on the music scene will be taken to a new level. Accordingly, the ARD Music Competition will have a new logo and design from 2025 onward.
