About the ISCM

The International Society for Contemporary Music (ISCM) is a premier forum for the advancement, dissemination, and interchange of new music from around the world. Through ISCM, our members promote contemporary music in all its varied forms, strengthening musical life in their local contexts and making their music and its creators known to world.

The ISCM embraces the diverse music of its many members without discrimination on the basis of race, gender, religion, or politics. It values open and democratic procedures in the formation and enactment of policy, including the decision (made by the General Assembly of all its members) regarding where each World New Music Days festival will be held.

The ISCM pledges to realize the equitable representation of nationality, gender, and age of composers and musicians in all of its programming. As an international organization of artists, we support diversity and ensure to promote it. 

The annual ISCM World New Music Days festival is the principle vehicle through which we pursue our mission. Organized each year by a different host, the festival presents music from each of our member sections, showcasing the incredible diversity of musical practice in our time. Recent festivals have taken place in Estonia, China, Canada, South Korea, Slovenia, Poland, Belgium, Australia, Croatia, Hong Kong, and Japan.

Since our founding in 1922, our network has grown to include more than 60 organizations in over 50 countries, on every continent.