International Eisenach Bach Composition Prize 2025

The city of Eisenach is offering the Bach Composition Prize for Orchestra for the fifth time worldwide in 2025. The prize was established in 2018 by the Cultural Department of the City of Eisenach, headed by Dr. Achim Heidenreich. With this award, the city of Eisenach expressly honors the work and memory of the world's most important composer, born in Eisenach in 1685, and aims to update this important cultural heritage with contemporary orchestral works.

The Composition Prize is an important component of the Eisenach cultural cluster BachWelt Eisenach, in which all Bach-related institutions in the city participate.

The prize money is €4,000.

Composers are encouraged to draw inspiration from the work of the city's great son in their new work.

The competition criteria are:

• Duration: up to 12 minutes
• Instrumentation: 2.2.2.2.-4.2.3.0.-timpani-percussion, max. 3 players (bass drum, snare drum, 2 humped gongs, tubular bells, etc.), strings: 10-8-6-5-3 . The score must be anonymized. If a name is mentioned on the score, it will be excluded from the competition.
• A short biography (CV) must be attached to the submission email as a separate file in German or English.
• Previous winners are excluded from the competition.
• The winner will provide the orchestra with the orchestral material for the premiere concert free of charge.
• The scores must be submitted as PDF files exclusively by email.
• The deadline for submissions is October 31, 2025.
• There is no age restriction.

Jury

An international jury formed for this purpose will select the prize-winning work from among the submitted works in a closed session. The jury's decision is final. Legal recourse is excluded.

World Premiere & Prizewinners' Concert
The world premiere will take place in 2026 in Eisenach with the Thuringia Philharmonic Orchestra Gotha Eisenach.