Palma Ars Acustica

The Jury of the 2026 Palma Ars Acustica met online on 16 June and designated this year's winner:

Longyearbyen: Life at the edge of industry and wilderness
a soundscape composition by James Welburn (ORF)

Discover the 2026 Palma Ars Acustica entries in MUS under AA/2026/04/01/01-12.

The Palma Ars Acustica jury had this to say about the winning piece

James Welburn approaches the soundscape of the Arctic region of Spitsbergen – a world unfamiliar to most of us – in a highly sophisticated and experienced way. His soundscape “Longyearbyen” is drawing us deeply into the vast and uninhabitable northernmost place in the world, where civilization and nature collide. The British musician and sound artist provides us with the opportunity to hear the clattering of the remains of human beings: echoing Snow Scooters and dogs barking leave sonic traces, the abandoned coal mining machines melt into the harsh sound of wind in all its sonic forms.

The footsteps of Welburn bring rhythm into the piece and give us the possibility to track his actual paths through the area and set up the imaginary space for listening. 

The sounds are primarily unaltered field recordings, captured with a range of techniques including static setups, mobile and binaural methods, and both stereo and mono microphones. Some trips were carefully planned, while others were recorded spontaneously. The field recordings have not been manipulated beyond sequencing, volume adjustment, and equalization, and no external sounds have been added. He describes his approach as “a hybrid of observational documentary style and first-person perspective”.

This piece of radio art captivates us with its carefully captured field recordings, making us lose track of time as we experience an individual Cinemascope-style soundscape in our minds.

Quote from the winning Artist James Welburn

About the work, by James Welburn

I had to walk through the ghostly wasteland of old mining machines and be dwarfed by ancient mountains. Feel the Arctic wind blow straight through my body, while the abandoned industrial machinery rattled in its force. Listen to the sound of distant dogs barking through the fog. Hear snow scooters echoing down the valley, while the repetitive crunch of ice underfoot formed a rhythm with my boots’ spikes and chains. Only then could I make music and sound that responded to the landscape.

Special Mentions by the Jury

The jury decided to give special mentions regarding two pieces with differing aesthetic and conceptual approaches:

Dronequiem by Tomáš Šenkyřík (Czech Radio)

Dronequiem, produced by Czech Radio in 2025, is a composition in commemoration of the tragic events at the Faculty of Arts at Charles University in Prague. On 21 December 2023, fourteen people were killed and dozens of others wounded in a mass shooting. Sound artist and composer Tomáš Šenkyřík captured the silence of the corridors and places where the tragic events took place and used them, as well as the crescendo of drone sounds for his sonic contribution, using radio as an acoustic memorial one year after the event. Dronequiem is a dignified take on the highly sensitive issue of translating trauma into abstract sounds, a contemplative piece that leaves space for commemoration and mourning.

rocococorecore by Antonia Alessia Virgina Beeskow (SWR/ORF)

Sound artist, performer, and radio author Antonia Alessia Virgina Beeskow makes a truly fresh composition that references the tradition of “Hörspiel”, Theater and critical theory as a reflection of a virtual environment where, above all, a digitally native generation Z, is leaving its footprints. Using the “corecore” internet aesthetic and editing style as the point of departure, she embarks on an exciting journey through different worlds of sonic and beyond sonic experiences. Notably, the piece is meticulously scripted and arranged without using AI tools – a handmade radio piece referring to social media eclecticism. Conceptually, it refers to the recurring pattern of humanity losing itself in decorative embellishments like in the times of Rococo, that obscure reality.
 

The Prix Palma Ars Acustica (PAA) is an international competition organized by the Ars Acustica community to promote and honour outstanding productions of authors in the world of Ars Acustica: radio art, sound art, media art, text sound compositions, electroacoustic music, electronics, live electronica, etc. Candidates should be put forward by specialized producers from EBU radio organizations.

2026 Palma Ars Acustica Regulations