diff --git a/session_utils/new_session.cc b/session_utils/new_session.cc
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..2c03bc1850
--- /dev/null
+++ b/session_utils/new_session.cc
@@ -0,0 +1,242 @@
+#include <cstdlib>
+#include <getopt.h>
+#include <iostream>
+
+#include <glibmm.h>
+
+#include "ardour/audioengine.h"
+#include "ardour/filename_extensions.h"
+#include "ardour/template_utils.h"
+
+#include "common.h"
+
+using namespace std;
+using namespace ARDOUR;
+using namespace SessionUtils;
+
+static void
+usage (int status)
+{
+	// help2man compatible format (standard GNU help-text)
+	printf (UTILNAME " - create a new session from the commandline.\n\n");
+	printf ("Usage: " UTILNAME " [ OPTIONS ] <session-dir> [session-name]\n\n");
+	printf ("Options:\n\
+  -L, --list-templates          List available templates and exit\n\
+  -h, --help                    Display this help and exit\n\
+  -m, --master-channels <chn>   Master-bus channel count (default 2)\n\
+  -s, --samplerate <rate>       Samplerate to use (default 48000)\n\
+  -t, --template <template>     Use given template for new session\n\
+  -V, --version                 Print version information and exit\n\
+\n");
+
+	printf ("\n\
+This tool creates a new Ardour session, optionally based on a\n\
+session-template.\n\
+\n\
+If the session-name is unspecified, the sesion-dir-name is used.\n\
+If specified, the tool expects a session-name without .ardour\n\
+file-name extension.\n\
+\n\
+If no template is specified, an empty session with a stereo master\n\
+bus is created. The -m option allows to specify the master-bus channel\n\
+count. If zero is used as channel count, no master-bus is created.\n\
+\n\
+Note: this tool can only use static session templates.\n\
+Interactive Lua init-scripts or dynamic templates are not supported.\n\
+\n");
+
+	printf ("\n\
+Examples:\n\
+" UTILNAME " -s 44100 -m 4 /tmp/NewSession\n\
+\n");
+
+	printf ("Report bugs to <http://tracker.ardour.org/>\n"
+	        "Website: <http://ardour.org/>\n");
+	::exit (status);
+}
+
+static void
+list_templates ()
+{
+	vector<TemplateInfo> templates;
+	find_session_templates (templates, false);
+
+	cout << "---- List of Session Templates ----\n";
+	for (vector<TemplateInfo>::iterator x = templates.begin (); x != templates.end (); ++x) {
+		cout << "[TPL] " << (*x).name << "\n";
+	}
+	cout << "----\n";
+}
+
+static std::string
+template_path_from_name (std::string const& name)
+{
+	vector<TemplateInfo> templates;
+	find_session_templates (templates, false);
+
+	for (vector<TemplateInfo>::iterator x = templates.begin (); x != templates.end (); ++x) {
+		if ((*x).name == name) {
+			return (*x).path;
+		}
+	}
+	return "";
+}
+
+static Session*
+create_new_session (string const& dir, string const& state, float sample_rate, int master_bus_chn, string const& template_path)
+{
+	AudioEngine* engine = AudioEngine::create ();
+
+	if (!engine->set_backend ("None (Dummy)", "Unit-Test", "")) {
+		cerr << "Cannot create Audio/MIDI engine\n";
+		::exit (EXIT_FAILURE);
+	}
+
+	engine->set_input_channels (256);
+	engine->set_output_channels (256);
+
+	if (engine->set_sample_rate (sample_rate)) {
+		cerr << "Cannot set session's samplerate.\n";
+		return 0;
+	}
+
+	if (engine->start () != 0) {
+		cerr << "Cannot start Audio/MIDI engine\n";
+		return 0;
+	}
+
+	string s = Glib::build_filename (dir, state + statefile_suffix);
+
+	if (Glib::file_test (dir, Glib::FILE_TEST_EXISTS)) {
+		cerr << "Session folder already exists '" << dir << "'\n";
+	}
+	if (Glib::file_test (s, Glib::FILE_TEST_EXISTS)) {
+		cerr << "Session file exists '" << s << "'\n";
+		return 0;
+	}
+
+	BusProfile  bus_profile;
+	BusProfile* bus_profile_ptr = NULL;
+
+	if (master_bus_chn > 0) {
+		bus_profile_ptr = &bus_profile;
+		bus_profile.master_out_channels = master_bus_chn;
+	}
+
+	if (!template_path.empty ()) {
+		bus_profile_ptr = NULL;
+	}
+
+	Session* session = new Session (*engine, dir, state, bus_profile_ptr, template_path);
+	engine->set_session (session);
+	return session;
+}
+
+int
+main (int argc, char* argv[])
+{
+	int    sample_rate    = 48000;
+	int    master_bus_chn = 2;
+	string template_path;
+
+	const char* optstring = "Lm:hs:t:V";
+
+	/* clang-format off */
+	const struct option longopts[] = {
+		{ "list-templates",  no_argument,       0, 'L' },
+		{ "help",            no_argument,       0, 'h' },
+		{ "master-channels", no_argument,       0, 'm' },
+		{ "samplerate",      required_argument, 0, 's' },
+		{ "template",        required_argument, 0, 't' },
+		{ "version",         no_argument,       0, 'V' },
+	};
+	/* clang-format on */
+
+	int c = 0;
+	while (EOF != (c = getopt_long (argc, argv,
+	                                optstring, longopts, (int*)0))) {
+		switch (c) {
+			case 'L':
+				list_templates ();
+				exit (EXIT_SUCCESS);
+				break;
+			case 'm': {
+				const int mc = atoi (optarg);
+				if (mc >= 0 && mc < 128) {
+					master_bus_chn = mc;
+				} else {
+					cerr << "Invalid master bus channel count\n";
+				}
+			} break;
+			case 's': {
+				const int sr = atoi (optarg);
+				if (sr >= 8000 && sr <= 192000) {
+					sample_rate = sr;
+				} else {
+					cerr << "Invalid Samplerate\n";
+				}
+			} break;
+
+			case 't':
+				template_path = template_path_from_name (optarg);
+				if (template_path.empty ()) {
+					cerr << "Invalid (non-existent) template:" << optarg << "\n";
+					::exit (EXIT_FAILURE);
+				}
+				break;
+
+			case 'V':
+				printf ("ardour-utils version %s\n\n", VERSIONSTRING);
+				printf ("Copyright (C) GPL 2019 Robin Gareus <robin@gareus.org>\n");
+				exit (EXIT_SUCCESS);
+				break;
+
+			case 'h':
+				usage (EXIT_SUCCESS);
+				break;
+
+			default:
+				usage (EXIT_FAILURE);
+				break;
+		}
+	}
+
+	string snapshot_name;
+
+	if (optind + 2 == argc) {
+		snapshot_name = argv[optind + 1];
+	} else if (optind + 1 == argc) {
+		snapshot_name = Glib::path_get_basename (argv[optind]);
+	} else {
+		usage (EXIT_FAILURE);
+	}
+
+	if (snapshot_name.empty ()) {
+		cerr << "Error: Invalid empty session/snapshot name.\n";
+		::exit (EXIT_FAILURE);
+	}
+
+	/* all systems go */
+
+	SessionUtils::init ();
+	Session* s = 0;
+
+	try {
+		s = create_new_session (argv[optind], snapshot_name, sample_rate, master_bus_chn, template_path);
+	} catch (ARDOUR::SessionException& e) {
+		cerr << "Error: " << e.what () << "\n";
+	} catch (...) {
+		cerr << "Error: unknown exception.\n";
+	}
+
+	/* save is implicit when creating a new session */
+
+	if (s) {
+		cout << "Created session in '" << s->path () << "'" << endl;
+	}
+
+	SessionUtils::unload_session (s);
+	SessionUtils::cleanup ();
+
+	return 0;
+}