Paris/San Carlos de Bariloche, May 06, 2019. – A flagship project of the International Music Council (IMC), the International Rostrum of Composers (IRC) was launched in 1954 and will be held this year for the first time in San Carlos de Bariloche, Province of Rio Negro, Argentina, at the initiative of the Argentinean Music Council and hosted by the Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Sports of the Rio Negro Province and its Orquesta Filarmónica.

Over the past decades, the IRC has become the most important platform for the promotion of contemporary music via radio broadcast while offering a unique forum for professional exchange among radio music producers and presenters. Its central purpose, supported by the European Broadcasting Union, is to provide contemporary musical creations the largest possible number of broadcasts worldwide.

During the event in Bariloche, contemporary music producers from some 25 national radio networks from four continents will present some 60 works composed within the five years preceding the Rostrum. After having listened to these works, the assembly of delegates will select and recommend the most distinctive works in two categories: ‘general’ and ‘young composers under 30’. These and other works will be presented in concerts and broadcast during the year following the event by the participating and other interested radio stations. In this way, these works will reach billions of listeners.

For instance, for the last two editions only, some 100 recent works have been presented and then broadcast by participating radios more than 2000 times, one of the highest recorded broadcast rates ever.

Moreover, since the launch of the Streaming Week in 2015, presented works have been listened on freely accessible streaming more than 7000 times.

In its 66-year history, the IRC has revealed the emergence of many of the world’s most gifted composers whilst they are still young. Famous composers such as Krzysztof Penderecki, Luigi Nono and Murray Schafer had their first international successes when they were presented at the Rostrum.

Besides the listening sessions, as an IRC tradition, delegates will be offered opportunities for exchange and professional development and will be invited to have an insight into Argentina’s legendary and vibrant cultural scene thanks to a rich side programme organised by our hosts and the connection with FIMBA – Bariloche International Music Festival.

Furthermore, as 2019 marks the 70th anniversary of the International Music Council, it will be a perfect occasion to celebrate the Five Music Rights which the IMC stands for.

The Rostrum sessions will be chaired by Evert van Berkel, Producer at Swedish Radio Ltd.

This year’s selection of the Rostrum will be announced at a press conference to be held on May 17th at 12:00 at the Villa Huinid Hotel Pioneros in San Carlos de Bariloche.