Ink Still Wet

A central pillar of the Grafenegg Festival is the Composer in Residence programme, which every year shines a light on an eminent composer of contemporary music. During their stay in Grafenegg, the distinguished composers premiere their own works, but are also there to give advice and support to colleagues in the workshop Ink Still Wet.

Composer conductor-workshop Ink Still Wet’s aim is to be a springboard for the next generation of composers and to promote a unique creative exchange between audiences, composers and performing musicians.

Led by the Composer in Residence of the Grafenegg Festival, the intention of the Ink Still Wet Workshop is to provide impulses for the creation of new works for orchestra. In addition, the workshop offers the opportunity to rehearse and perform an own work with a professional orchestra. Thus, also gaining a new perspective on one’s own work. The participants’ works will be presented to the public in the workshop’s closing concert as part of the Grafenegg Festival.

Previous years have shown how important and multi-layered these workshops are for the composers. What has only existed in their head or on paper is now tested in the exchange between the performing musicians and its performance on a major concert platform. Do the imagined sounds pass the trial run, or do they need to be revised? Is there a better way to notate one or another musical idea? Or, more fundamentally: as a composer, how do you approach a long-established professional orchestra, and how do you explain or, when necessary, defend your musical ideas?

2026 sees the 16th edition of the Ink Still Wet composer conductor-workshop.