The New Lexicon I.
Philosophy of Music Technology [research group]
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RESIDENCY PROGRAMME FOR COMPOSERS
[October 2026 – June 2027]
The New Lexicon is an international research residency devoted to the investigation, articulation, and advancement of philosophy of music technology as a field of inquiry. It convenes practitioners who approach technology not simply as a collection of tools, but as a material and political condition through which music is imagined, produced, performed, recorded, circulated, preserved, and heard.
Across four online seminars and a public residency, participants will articulate the premises of their practices, develop projects through dialogue, and contribute to a plural vocabulary for thinking music technology anew.
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PROGRAM AT A GLANCE
Program period: October 2026–June 2027
Format: Four online seminars followed by an on-site festival phase
On-site location: Bled, Slovenia (EU)
Public presentation: Seventh Bled Contemporary Music Week
Application deadline: September 30, 2026
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FORMAT
Stage I | Articulation and Presentation | October 28, 29, 2026
Two online seminars introduce participants’ projects, questions, materials, and methods, with attention to conceptual premises, disciplinary locations, and stakes.
Stage II | Critical Inquiry and Development | January 13, 14, 2027
Two online seminars examine the grounds, methods, evidence, ethics, and functions of music research while establishing trajectories for individual and collective development.
Stage III | Public Presentation and Exchange | June 14-25, 2027
Participants present research, lectures, and discussions at the seventh Bled Contemporary Music Week in Bled, Slovenia.
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RESIDENCY OVERVIEW
The New Lexicon is an international research residency dedicated to the critical investigation, articulation, and advancement of philosophy of music technology as a field of inquiry. It convenes practitioners who understand technology not solely as a collection of tools used to realize musical ideas, but as a material, conceptual, historical, social, and political condition through which music is imagined, produced, performed, recorded, distributed, archived, and heard.
Across four online seminars and a culminating public residency, participants will articulate the technological premises of their practices, develop artistic and research projects through sustained critical dialogue, and contribute to a shared yet plural vocabulary for thinking music technology anew. The programme offers a setting in which technological choices can be considered not only in terms of functionality, novelty, or efficiency, but also in relation to the forms of agency, knowledge, embodiment, value, labour, access, and power that they organize.
The residency is addressed to composers, sound artists, performers, instrument makers, software developers, designers, and artistic researchers whose work raises questions that cannot be resolved by technical discussion alone. These questions may concern the status of the instrument; the relation between human intention and machine operation; the role of notation, code, data, recording, and interfaces; the distribution of authorship across people and systems; the politics of platforms and infrastructures; or the ecological and cultural consequences of technological change. What matters is a willingness to examine the assumptions embedded in one’s tools and methods, to expose them to collective inquiry, and to engage seriously with positions different from one’s own.
The New Lexicon is neither a conventional technology workshop nor a seminar in which established theories are simply applied to musical devices. It is a practice-based research environment in which philosophy, artistic practice, and technical construction enter into reciprocal relation. Philosophy provides methods for clarifying concepts, testing claims, distinguishing problems, and situating technologies historically. Musical practice, in turn, is approached as a distinctive form of inquiry capable of producing systems, experiences, relations, and concepts that may exceed or transform existing theoretical language.
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MENTORS
Dr. Alastair White
Urban Megušar, Double M.Mus.
Dr. Niki Zohdi
Dr. Dré A. Hočevar
COORDINATOR
Brina Kren
DATES
MENTORS
PROGRAMME FORMAT
RESEARCH PREMISE
WHY THE NEW LEXICON?
CENTRAL QUESTIONS
WORKING METHOD
PARTICIPANT VALUE
WHO THE PROGRAMME ADDRESSES
TOWARDS MULTIPLE PHILOSOPHIES OF MUSIC TECHNOLOGY
APPLICATION
APPLICATION FORM AND
PARTICIPATION FEES
The New Lexicon program is produced by .abeceda Institute
.abeceda [Institute for Research in Art, Critical Thought and Philosophy], a public-benefit NGO and non-profit organisation dedicated to advancing contemporary artistic practices and critical inquiry. Through its innovative programmes, .abeceda has gained international recognition as one of the leading platforms for contemporary music and artistic research in the Adriatic region and across Europe: www.abeceda.io