CalASTA Bowed Strings Competition - Los Angeles Section

The Cal-ASTA Bowed Strings Competition stimulates and encourages young people at all levels of development to study stringed instruments by providing performance, evaluation, and recognition opportunities for students of ASTA members. The three-tiered competition is open to applicants of violin, viola, cello and double bass. The Preliminary Round is held via video submission. Up to five (5) participants from each instrument/age category will advance to a live Finals Round. Winners of the Finals Round are advanced to the Bi-Annual California State Finals.

• Application and Video Submission Window: March 1, 2025 to March 30, 2025. Submission window will close at 11:59 p.m. March 30.
• Fee: $110.00
• Finalist Results Announced: April 23, 2025.

• Date: Saturday, May 24, 2025 (Reserve the entire day as there will be no schedule changes.)
• Fee: $110 
  • 2024: Thanks to a grant from the Hennings-Fischer Foundation, each participating finalist will receive a cash award. The award will be applied first to their final application fee of $150 then as a check for the remaining amount. Bowed string players have many expenses hiring collaborative pianists so this generosity from the foundation towards these costs is much appreciated. Finalists not participating in the live Finals Round for any reason forfeit this award.
• Location: Recital Hall, Cal State University - Fullerton
• Commitment to Participate in the Finals must be received by April 26, 2025. Students should plan to keep the whole day open or be prepared to forfeit their participation in the Finals Round.
• Finals Schedule Posting: May 5th, 2025

• • Date: 2026
  • Location: Northern California
  • Eligibility: Entrants must have participated in their ASTA Section Competition in either 2025 or 2026 and have been declared eligible by the judges to advance to the State Competition.
  • For more detailed information about State Finals, visit https://www.calasta.org/

1. Participation is open to students of teachers who are active members of CalASTA-Los Angeles Section. Students must be represented by the same teacher for both Preliminary and Finals rounds. No changes of teacher will be accepted after the Preliminaries application is submitted. This policy does not apply to registration for State Finals, which is a separate application process.
2. Participants’ applications must include their private teacher’s current ASTA membership email and membership expiration date to establish eligibility.
3. Contestants may enter in one of the following Age Categories for the Los Angeles Preliminary and Finals Rounds (age as of June 1, 2025). All students MUST compete within their respective age categories: Novice: age 12 and under -- Junior I: ages 13 through 15 --  Junior II: ages 16 through 18 -- Senior: ages 19 through 25.
4. Proof of age must be uploaded with the application. Acceptable documents include a scan of a birth certificate (certified copy or original), passport, or driver’s license.
5. Code of Conduct agreement is required to participate in the Los Angeles Competitions. This includes Judges, Chairpersons, teachers, participants over 18, and parents or guardians of participants under 18. A .pdf copy of the CalASTA-LA Code of Conduct is available in the Resources section of this web page. Please make sure you have reviewed this document before starting your application process.
6. Repertoire: One selection must be chosen from the standard literature and should demonstrate musicianship, tone, and technique. Repertoire must be performed from memory.
7. Performance time limit: Eight (8) minutes for both Preliminary and Los Angeles Final Competitions. If a performance goes over 8 minutes, the judges will stop the video, or live performance at that point without penalty. 
8. Cuts: Cuts in accompaniments are allowed for the time limit but must be a part of the performance. Pieces with variations may choose which variations to include. 
9. Accompaniment is required when applicable. Teachers may not perform as a participant’s accompanist, as it may compromise the competitor’s anonymity.
10. Judges’ decisions are final.

• Applicants will submit a video recording via Acceptd.
• Video submissions must be filmed as one continuous recording on a single camera placed on a tripod or other steady surface.
  • Today’s phone camera videos are of a caliber that is sufficient for these recordings. It is not necessary to submit professionally engineered recordings.
  • Landscape Mode
  • 75% of the camera shot should be the performer from head to knees, positioned to see both hands clearly and the complete bow stroke for the entire piece.
  • No editing of video or audio is allowed. This includes the addition of reverb, pitch alteration, or any other sound effects. Submissions that are determined to be edited will be disqualified and no refunds given.
  • Make sure “mirror” setting is turned off.
  • Submissions that are determined to be edited, or which do not follow these guidelines will be disqualified and no refunds given.
• Label the video submission to calastala.getacceptd.com with [Composer], [Work], [Movement].
  • Example: Haydn: Concerto in C Major, I. Allegro
  • DO NOT INCLUDE YOUR NAME OR YOUR TEACHER’S NAME in the video label or the file name.
• Instrumental Music Score Upload
  • Participants must present a legally obtained solo part or piano score to the judges. No imslp downloads. See Copying Under Copyright from mpa.org for more information. If the music has been purchased as a digital download, the copy must include the complete copyright attribution for that piece as well as a watermark that states that the piece is licensed specifically for use by the participant or their legal guardian. Competitors violating this rule will only be given comments. No advancement, prizes, or certificates will be given to them.
  • Orchestra scores, or imslp music will not be accepted.
  • Number the Measures: Make sure your music has measure numbers at the beginning of every line. This assists the judges in being able to make specific comments if necessary. Music submitted without measure numbers may affect the critique the judges can provide.
  • Only upload the segment of music that you are performing. For example, if you are playing the third movement, only upload the music for the third movement.
  • Submissions that do not follow this criterion will be subject to disqualification and no refunds given.
• As a part of the application, students and parents must agree to allow CalASTA-LA to share their video submission on its Facebook page as part of a presentation of winners.
• Up to five (5) finalists will be selected per instrument division in each age category to advance to the Los Angeles Finals Round.
• Placement awards will not be given in the Preliminary Round.
• Judges’ comments from the Preliminary Round will be forwarded to the teachers.
• Certificates will be awarded to each participant.

• The Finals Round of the CalASTA-LA Bowed Strings Competition will be performed live.
• Finals participants must perform the same piece they entered in the Preliminary Round.
• Time limit: 8 minutes. For pieces longer than the time limit, judges may ask to hear any segment of a piece or stop the performance early without penalty.
• Participants must present a legally obtained solo part or piano score to the judges. No imslp downloads. See Copying Under Copyright from mpa.org for more information. If the music has been purchased as a digital download, the copy must include the complete copyright attribution for that piece as well as a watermark that states that the piece is licensed specifically for use by the participant or their legal guardian. Competitors violating this rule will only be given comments. No advancement, prizes, or certificates will be given to them.
• Orchestra scores, or imslp music will not be accepted.
• Number the Measures: Make sure your music has measure numbers at the beginning of every line. This assists the judges in being able to make specific comments if necessary. Music submitted without measure numbers may affect the critique the judges can provide. Submissions that do not follow this criterion will be subject to possible disqualification and no refunds given.
• Cuts are allowed in the accompaniment to maximize performing time. Do not make cuts in the solo part. Pieces with variations may choose which variations to include but must be the same variations entered in the Preliminary Round.
• Collaborative pianists may use photocopied pages to facilitate page turns.
• Collaborative pianists may use electronic devices during performance, but only limited to the following uses: score-reading, page-turning, tuning.
• Judges will determine 1st Place, 2nd Place, 3rd Place, and Honorable Mention Awards.
• First Place Winners in the Los Angeles Finals Competition in each instrument division and the appropriate age categories, will advance to the California State Competition.
• First Place winners of the Los Angeles Finals Competition are eligible to compete in the bi-annual California State Competition (2026)
• The judges may recommend additional highly qualified Second Place winners to advance to the California State Competition. No Third-Place awardees may be recommended for the State Finals.
• Awards for the Los Angeles Finals Competition will be as follows: Novice—$200; Junior I—$300; Junior II—$300; Senior—$400.
• The Noumi Fischer Grand Prize: A special award of $200.00 and a solo performance with the Olympia Philharmonic may be presented to a participant in the 2025 Los Angeles Finals Competition. Performance repertoire is subject to the approval of the Olympia Philharmonic conductor, Fung Ho.
• The comments, certificates, and award checks from the LA Finals will be sent to teachers. It is the teacher’s responsibility to forward all comments, certificates, and award checks to their students in a timely manner!

1. Two judges will be engaged for the Preliminary Rounds and three for the Los Angeles Finals Competition. 
2. Chairpersons and participating teachers in any part of the competition may not adjudicate in any part of the competition for that year.
3. Prior to and during the competition, each performer shall be identified to the judges by number only.
4. Judges may not see any printed recital program until after all awards have been presented.
5. Judges are required to consider only the performance given by a competitor on that particular day. No other prior experiences, whether positive or negative, are relevant to the competition.
6. Judges are not to write contact information, addresses, or affiliations on the Evaluation Forms.
7. Judges will make every effort to present their evaluations in a positive and constructive manner.
8. The Competition Chair will need to work with judges to help with paperwork and to answer questions about procedures.
9. Questions by the judges to the Competition Chair should be of a procedural nature only. All efforts shall be made to avoid even the appearance of any inappropriate influence on the results.
10. Contact between judges and parents/teachers/students regarding competition participation is not allowed.
11. All judges' decisions are final.

• Any winner of the Los Angeles Finals Competition who is NOT chosen to advance to the State Competition is eligible to compete again the following year.
• LA Section Finals winners who advance to the Bi-Annual State Finals may not compete in the Los Angeles Section Preliminaries again (in the same category) until the year following the State Finals competition. For example, the 2025 Finals winners will advance to the 2026 State Finals and will next be eligible to compete in the Los Angeles Preliminaries in 2027, unless they are entering at a different age category.
• California State Finals First-Place winners may not compete again in the same age category they won the prize in. Since the CalASTA State Finals combines both Junior age categories into one, winners of the State Finals Junior Category may next participate in the Preliminary Round at the SENIOR level.
• State Finals participants not winning First Place may participate again in the Los Angeles Preliminaries the year following their State Finals competition in any category for which they qualify.