The Guthman Musical Instrument Competition
The Guthman Musical Instrument Competition
The Guthman Musical Instrument Competition is one of the only competitions of its kind: an event dedicated to identifying the newest and greatest ideas in music. Every year, we invite musical inventors from around the world to share their creations and ideas about the future of music.
The 2021 competition will be a fully online event, featuring instrument makers submitting their creations from all over the world. Viewers will be able to watch and vote on their favorites, while judges choose the winners for a special celebration culminating in March of 2021.
Introducing the 2021 Guthman Competition Finalists
The competition has begun, and we want you to be a judge.
For this year's virtual competition, our selection committee has chosen 29 finalists from 15 different countries. We encourage you to vote for your favorite instruments from this gallery of videos. The instrument earning the most votes will receive one of our prizes and a commission.
The Path Forward: Creativity in New Instruments
This special Guthman Competition panel addresses musical instrument and interface design. Grace Leslie moderates a conversation with Peter Kirn, Roger Linn, and Raghavasimhan Sankaranarayanan.
Join The 2021 Moog Hackathon
Hosted by Georgia Tech Center for Music Technology and the Georgia Tech School of Music, The 7th Moog Hackathon will be conducted remotely from February 12-21, 2021. High school and college students are invited to compete individually or in groups while observing social distancing guidelines.
Moog Hackathon participants will design and build novel musical instruments using Moog platforms and other software and hardware prototyping tools. Entrants will compete for $6,000 in prizes.
This Year's Competition
This year's format is a departure from the Guthman Competition of years past. In lieu of live performances on a stage, we will instead be presenting a fully online series of events and performances featuring the most innovative and exciting instruments from around the world!
Georgia Tech School of Music
Our music technology students combine technical skill with exceptional music talent to truly change the way the world experiences music. They use what they learn to go on to careers in a variety of fields, including software development, hardware engineering, acoustics, robotics, automotive audio, and artificial intelligence.
For the student with a passion both for making music and developing cutting edge technology, a degree in music technology fulfills a unique space in both artistic expression and technical achievement.
The Judges
The judges for the 2021 Guthman Competition have been announced!
They are: Grammy winning and legendary instrument maker Dave Smith; composer, media artist, and writer DJ Spooky; composer and musician Kaki King; and curator of the Department of Musical Instruments at the Metropolitan Museum of Art Jayson Dobney.