Music Current: Dublin Sound Lab's festival to return next week for vibrant 10th anniversary edition

Dublin Sound Lab is celebrating 10 years of platforming the latest cutting-edge trends in new music with its annual festival, Music Current – returning to the Project Arts Centre and the Contemporary Music Centre in Dublin next week, from April 8–11.

Across a full four-day programme of electrifying concerts, workshops and panel discussions, the contemporary music festival will feature both Irish and international premieres, as well as four new music commissions, written specially for the festival's 2026 edition.

For its 10th anniversary year, the programme is embracing a strong international theme, with soloists, ensembles and composers from Poland, France, Austria, Germany, USA, Argentina and, of course, Ireland.

There is also a strong multi-media element, with works for live instruments and interactive electronics, interactive video, live sound spatialisation, works for flashlights, choreographed instrumentalists, and audio-visual performances.

Dublin Sound Lab will also feature their own new concert programme, ACTION! STATION!. Their trademark multimedia presentation style is a key part of Music Current each year – and for the 2026 festival, they're focusing on the space between "the action and the sound..."

Dublin Sound Lab

Showcasing some of the best Irish and international contemporary music makers, the festival's workshops and panel discussions are set to prove a huge hit with Irish audiences once again this year.

The upcoming festival will also feature the unveiling of Bethany Younge’s (USA) 2025 commission – with this year's annual commission scheme expected to attract nearly 200 submissions.

"Music Current is now very much embedded in Dublin’s music and festival calendar, and has acquired a significant reputation that not only attracts leading international ensembles and composers, but now also regularly places Irish composers with visiting groups in festivals abroad, with ensembles," comments Festival Director Fergal Dowling.

Spółdzielnia Muzyczna. Credit: Michal Ramus

"For example, Proxima Centauri Ensemble from France, and Spółdzielnia Muzyczna Contemporary Ensemble from Poland have each commissioned Irish composers," he continues. "It’s also a great platform now for Irish artists, like rising star composer Yue Song, and Dublin Sound Lab Associate Artist Barbara Ellison with her first major work in Dublin. But at its core, Music Current is about Dublin audiences enjoying music that is artistically challenging and technically ambitious, but still approachable and full of fun.”

For more, see musiccurrent.ie/2026