ULYSSES Platform

Coordinated by Ircam, the ULYSSES Platform focuses on the following commitment: to help emerging artists in contemporary music make a successful transition between formal training and making a living.

Gaudeamus Festival 2025, avec l'Ensemble IEMA

The ULYSSES project was originally inspired by an illustrious generation of 18th century artists who wandered across Europe, visiting at each “stop” along the way the greatest masters' workshops in order to improve and to complete their skills. Following the steps of the Homeric hero, their odyssey was an initiatory journey paving the way for future generations of young European artists.

Supported by the European Union, the ULYSSES Platform helps emerging artists in contemporary music to make a successful transition between formal training and making a living. The project, which is coordinated by Ircam, will run until 2028 and brings in 16 members from across the European continent. The Platform proposes an array of opportunities to support emerging artists, which include:

performing in a variety of high-visibility international contexts under the leadership of world class mentors from across Europe
broadening their artistic skillsets through training and new contexts and situations that challenge them to be open, community-oriented and innovative, expanding their creativity and artistic practice
connecting with a growing network of peers and established professionals in Europe and beyond, brought together through both in-person and online activities in a community of “Ulysses Artists”
learning the extra-musical skills that are not taught in traditional music education (such as self-promotion, contract negotiation, digital tools, fair practice etc.) but which are essential to defending their interests and thus sustainably supporting their careers

This multi-pronged approach will allows young artists to enter their professional lives armed with a broader vision, experience, knowledge and connections, contributing to a richer, more agile and more resilient European music sector.

The ULYSSES Platform 2024-2028 aims to leverages the positive results and accomplishments of the first, second and third ULYSSES Network projects that were carried out, with the support of the Culture programme of the European Union, from May 2012 to April 2016, from May 2016 to October 2020, and from November 2020 to October 2024.

ULYSSES Platform

Members

Areas of action

ULYSSES Ensemble

Each year the Platform publishes a call to select international young musicians who come together to form the ULYSSES Ensemble. The ensemble tours for one season through Europe and benefits from several work-sessions in different places, including rehearsals and a series of public concerts with world-class conductors while presenting a different repertoire at each stop. Performing alongside members from renowned professional ensembles, working with young or confirmed composers on their repertoire or on new pieces in the making – the ULYSSES Ensemble offers a unique opportunity for professionalisation.

ULYSSES Emerging Ensembles

The Platform also supports emerging ensembles. Identified by the member institutions, these young ensembles get the chance to tour among the network of institutions in the Platform in order to develop their own professional contacts, work with confirmed and young composers on new commissions, and participate in other ULYSSES activities.

Ulysses Journeys

Each year the ULYSSES Platform offers emerging artists a wide variety of concrete experiences (masterclasses, residencies, workshops …) in various domains (composition, improvisation, performance, electronics, sound design, curating …) in order to improve their skills under the leadership of world-class mentors.

In-Situ

In-Situ activities put emerging artists in new situations – hence “In-Situ” – and broaden their creative and collaborative skills., with audience engagement as a key focus. In-Situ is a place for artists to innovate, experiment and take risks, with the support of the host members.

Ulysses Co-Commissions

The ULYSSES Platform boosts the careers of promising emerging composers by providing them not only with a commission, but also a plan for the “life” of the work inside and outside the network. Out of this activity will emerge a new repertoire of works reflecting the diversity of European aesthetic approaches.

Ulysses Online Sessions

These online events target the extra-musical needs of emerging artists, focusing on topics such as curation, self-promotion, budget management, relations with publishers, relations with artistic directors, grant application techniques, career management and more. Invited speakers present a specific topic then open the floor for discussion, questions and the sharing of personal experiences among the participants. The online sessions aim to equip emerging artists with the skills they need to defend themselves in a competitive world.

The ULYSSES Platform is part of the Culture strand “European Platforms for the promotion of emerging artists” and will receive funding until 2028. This specific strand is intended to provide a vital boost to the careers of emerging talents and improve their working conditions