IRCAM Cursus Academic Year 2024.2025

Cursus Academic Year 2024.2025
From October 14, 2024 to September 30, 2025

Public concerned: composers under the age of 37 (born after January 1, 1987)

Cursus Program on Composition and Computer music

Teaching in French and English

The IRCAM Cursus is a unique computer music training program for young composers. Throughout the year, from October to September of the following year, students will acquire a solid technical autonomy and fluency in several computer programs, oriented towards artistic creation.

Composers will follow courses on IRCAM’s softwares for music composition (Max, OpenMusic, Modalys, TS2, Spat, etc.) in a wide-ranging and productive environment based on exchanges and encounters with researchers, programmers, sound engineers, computer-music designers, and composers working in our labs and studios as well as guest artists, in dialogue with the activities that are at the heart of our institute.

Led by the composer associated with the Cursus, Pierre Jodlowski, the training also opens the way to an interdisciplinary perspective to composition and features a hands-on approach in studio and collective workshops around image, movement, text and improvisation. Students are encouraged to develop a personal research around these practices, in order to extend their dialogue with other artistic fields. The Cursus is meant to include all practices and approaches that foresee the use of technological medium.

In order to validate the skills acquired throughout the program, during the workshops taking place at the end of each unit, students present their mini projects. These are also meant as preparatory steps towards the production of their final project, which will be presented during the IRCAM season program in September 2025.

Through a partnership with the Conservatoire supérieur de musique et de danse de Paris (CNSMDP), the Haute École de musique de Genève (HEM), the Académie supérieure de musique de Strasbourg-HEAR, the Conservatoire national supérieur de musique et de danse de Lyon (CNSMDL) and the Pôle supérieur d’enseignement artistique Paris Boulogne-Billancourt (PSPBB), students enrolled in a Master’s degree in composition in one of these establishments can follow the first year of their degree in IRCAM’s Cursus program.

Admission requirements

The call is opened to composers under 37 years old

A knowledge of Max is required (Tutorial 1-5: Basics, Midi, Data)
https://docs.cycling74.com/max8/tutorials/00_maxindex

Applicants for whom French is not the native language are highly encouraged to obtain an appropriate level of French before the beginning of the program.

Candidates must complete their application on the Ulysses Platform between June 28, 2023 and December 5, 2023.

Jury members, IRCAM Cursus teachers, and the pedagogy team are committed to promote diversity, equity and inclusion.

The application file must include the following documents (in French or in English):

• A detailed curriculum vitae, a list of professional experiences, and awards received
• A copy of a valid ID or passport
• A letter explaining the candidate’s motivations
• One or more letters of recommendation written by well-known figures in the musical world
• 3 recent works, at least 1 of which with electronics
accompanied by scores (pdf) recordings (wav or aiff) and/or video (mov). The electronics works can be linked with visual arts, dance, installation, multimedia…

For the piece(s) with electronics, please submit at least 1 Max patch, OpenMusic maquette or other tools that you used for the electronics part. Please indicate the link where the patch can be downloaded in the notes part dedicated to the work you submit.
Please provide a permanent link, without password.

Selection process schedule
• Publication of the call: June 20, 2023
• June 28, 2023: Applications can be submitted
• December 5, 2023: Application deadline
• January-February, 2024: Selection process
• End of February, 2024: Announcement by email of selection results

Following the selection
• Beginning of March, 2024:
The candidates selected for the Cursus program have to confirm their enrolment by email.
• March, 2024:
Further details of the Cursus program 2024-2025 and general conditions of the training course will be sent to the participants.
• March-April, 2024:
After the candidate’s acceptance of the terms and enrolment, a contract will have to be signed between IRCAM and the participant, and a deposit of 600 euros will have to be paid before April 30, 2024.

Registration fee: 2 000 euros

Further information about the IRCAM Cursus program can be found here

Contact: cursus@ircam.fr