October 26, 2025
Contact: Lynn Provenzano: 915-449-0619 or lprovenzano@epsmf.org
El Paso, Texas–The El Paso Society for Musicians of the Future (EPSMF) announces the winners in the Original Music/New Ideas (OM/NI) Strings Competition for Young Composers. This competition calls to exceptionally talented composers to compete for cash awards with new original music scores in two categories, emerging Composers (ages 17-25) and the Junior Division (ages 9-16). Winning scores were performed and recorded on Sunday, October 26, 2025, at Unity Church, 1420 Alabama, El Paso, TX 79905.
The 2023-2025 Strings Competition Winners are:
JUNIOR DIVISION: (ages 9-16)
1st Place:
Bird Island: Michal Šlais (Unaccompanied Violin)
2nd Place:
Euler-Scherzo: Nathaniel Koh B.Y. (Accompanied Violin)
3rd Place:
whitewashed: Adah Kaplan (Unaccompanied Violin)
EMERGENT DIVISION: (ages 17-25)
1st Place
Prisoners of Hope by Kian Ravaei (Unaccompanied Cello Solo)
2nd Place
Rondo for Solo Violin No. 1 by Amir Avsker (Unaccompanied Violin Solo)
3rd Place
A Dialogue for Cello and Piano, by Rohan Srinivasan (Accompanied Cello Solo)
The competition has grown to cross borders with local, national, and international applications. The top Emerging Composer award is $750 and the followed by second and third place awards of $500 and $250. The top award in the Junior Division is $300 followed by second and third place awards of $200 and $100. All finalists are eligible for the Audience Choice Award of $200. All of the finalists in this competition will be publicly recognized for their achievements.