The 1st International Ryuichi Sakamoto Film Music Competition takes place in Vilnius on January 15th – 17th of 2026. The competition and the film music concert are organised by the „Meno genas“ in cooperation with the Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theatre, the Wind Symphony Orchestra and the „Kristoforas“ Chamber Orchestra. Three entries will be nominated and world-premiered in the Grand Hall of the Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theatre on 22nd January of 2026.

The Grand Prix winner will be chosen by an expert jury and awarded with 5000 EUR. Winner of the second prize will be awarded with 3000 EUR, winner of the third prize will be awarded 2000 EUR.

REGISTRATION

Eligibility Composers under 40 years (by the day of submission), nationality and place of residence are eligible to enter. Prize winners of the previous International Sakamoto Film Music Competition from previous years are excluded from the competition.

It is possible to submit compositions made in a team as long as all the collaborators are eligible to enter. The team will share awarded prize.

Registration fee The competition entry fee is 30 EUR, which has to be paid by the 1st of October of 2025.

SUBMISSION OF FILM MUSIC FOR THE COMPETITION:

By the 1st of December of 2025 contestants have to submit:

1) A score which must be performable with the orchestration as a PDF file. Hand-written scores cannot be submitted. The score must contain timecodes, hitpoints and the click track

2) An MP3 audio file of the submitted score. This file has to present contestant‘s music and the sound track of the film to be scored. The beginning of the MP3 file must coincide with the beginning of the downloaded QuickTime file.

3) An MP3 or WAV audio file with a clicktrack.

4) If an additional electronic track is used, contestants‘ have to submit this as a one separate MP3 file.

A nick name that doesn’t allow to the identity of the contestant has to be chosen upon registration and used when all materials are uploaded, and must only contain nick name and not the real name.

IMPORTANT:

Contestants are not allowed to demonstrate the film in any form and/or pass it to the third parties. After the announcement of the Finalists, contestants who are not nominated are allowed to use the film together with their scores for their portfolio or homepage. The contestants are allowed to do so only after the world premiere on 22 January of 2024. In any case “The First International Ryuichi Sakamoto Film Music Competition ” must be mentioned, and the director of the film must be duly credited.

By registering, the film composer confirms she/he has read and accepted the competition’s Terms and Conditions. The film composer also confirms that she/he holds all rights to the submitted film music (including any third-party rights).

If nominated, the film composers commit themselves to grant “The First International Ryuichi Sakamoto Film Music Competition“ the permission to perform the film music without a limit and free of charge and to use it for promotion and advertising purposes.

On 22nd January 2026 a live performance and recording of the compositions of the Winners will be made.

INSTRUMENTATION:

1 piccolo flute/flute, 1 flute, 1-oboe/English Horn, 1 clarinet in Es, 1 clarinet in B, bass clarinet, 1 soprano sax/alto sax, 1 alto sax, 1 bassoon, 1 French Horn, 1 trumpet, 1 trombone, 1 tuba, 1 piano, 1 harp, 2 percussion (marimba, vibraphone, xylophone, chime, glockenspiel, triangle, big drum, small drums, drum set), 3 violin, 2 viola, 1 violoncello, 1 double bass.

The submitted film composition may use only a part of this instrumentation.

Important: a film composition that is not performable with this instrumentation cannot be nominated.

In addition to audio tracks t is possible to use one additional electronically or digitally produced audio track.

SELECTION OF THE FINALISTS:

A jury of the Competition is responsible for pre-selecting the entries. A jury of internationally renowned figures from the music and film industry choose the three finalists who will be announced on 17th January 2026. Participants who are not nominated will not receive a feedback from the jury. The competition fee wioll not be refunded.

The finalists’ compositions will be world-premiered in Vilnius on 22nd Januaryo of  2026. The three finalists will be invited to Vilnius for this world premiere. The International Ryuichi Sakamoto Film Music Competition will pay an overnight stay in a hotel, a round-trip flight or a train or bus ticket (depends on a distance) from the country of origin. Other expenses will not be covered.

The winners chosen by the jury will be announced on 17th January of 2026 and awarded the “Grand Prix” with 5000 EUR. The second prize winner will be awarded with 3000 EUR. The third price wqinner will be awarded with 2000 EUR.

ORGANISERS:

The Competition and the Award winning film music concert are organised by the following institutions: Public Institution „Meno genas“ and Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theatre in collaboration with Wind Symphony Orchestra and Kristoforas Orchestra.

Producer of the competition: Rima Rimšaitė

COLLABORATORS:

International association of film schools CILECT, Sengirės foundation