Melbourne Symphony Orchestra Is Inviting the Public to Submit Original Compositions for a Community Soundtrack
Melbourne's top orchestra is celebrating its 120th birthday with an open call for ideas from musicians nationwide.
Melbourne Symphony Orchestra (MSO) is turning 120 in 2026, and to celebrate, the orchestra is putting out an open call to anyone who's musically inclined to express their inner sounds. MSO has soundtracked Melbourne for over a century with professionally developed music from at home and abroad, but this new initiative, Open Score, expands the scope more than ever: anyone who can compose sheet music is invited to take part.
The brief is simple. Any composer, no matter their age, background and professional experience, is invited to submit a two-minute max composition for standard orchestral instruments that expresses their take on the theme: a sense of place. The piece must be original, unperformed and developed by the human hand, not generative AI.
It's not about which entries are the most technically complex or deep, but about how they represent the personal expressions of the entrants, all to capture reflections on who participants are, what home means to them, and the role music plays in their identity. As MSO themselves put it, "a collective musical snapshot of who we are, and where we are, right now."
MSO's CEO Richard Wigley said, "Open Score is part of our ongoing commitment to access, inclusion and shared cultural ownership. It celebrates creativity in all its forms and reflects our belief that orchestral music belongs not just on the concert hall stage, but in the lives, places and imaginations of people everywhere."
Selected pieces will get the spotlight they deserve. All entries will be reviewed over the course of the year by MSO's in-house artistic teams, and if your composition is selected, you'll receive a copy of MSO performing it — a recording that may also be shared on their digital platforms and, in some cases, performed live by the orchestra.
Applications are open now, and will remain open until the end of the year, so find your inner maestro, find your sense of place, and bring your idea to life with the help of one of Australia's best orchestras.
Terms and conditions apply, visit the MSO website for more information.
Images: Mark Gambino and Samantha Meuleman for Melbourne Symphony Orchestra
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