Education & Community

Marjorie Stricklin Emerging Artist Competition

A stage and a start for the most promising young musicians of the region.

The Marjorie Stricklin
Emerging Artist Competition

Founding MemberPrincipal Bass · 1970–2010
IN HONOR AND MEMORY OF

Marjorie McCord Stricklin

1931 – 2015

A founding member of the Monroe Symphony Orchestra, Marjorie served as its principal double bass for forty years (1970–2010). She was a charter member of the Monroe Symphony League and a longtime member of the MSO Board of Directors.

A piano teacher holding degrees from Murray State and LSU, she was named Louisiana’s Outstanding Music Teacher in 1995, honored with the MSO’s Roger DiGiulian Lifetime Musician Award in 2005, and inducted into the MSO Hall of Fame in 2010. The Emerging Artist Competition was renamed in her honor in 2008.

“Do all the good you can, by all the means you can, in all the ways you can … as long as ever you can.”— John Wesley, her guiding principle

About the Competition

The Marjorie Stricklin Emerging Artist Competition is an annual event of the Monroe Symphony League and the Monroe Symphony Orchestra, established to promote and encourage excellence in musical performance.

For a young musician, the competition offers a rare and formative prize — the chance to be heard before a panel of judges and a live audience, and, for the first-place winner, an invitation to perform as a soloist with the full orchestra. It is held each year at the Emy-Lou Biedenharn Recital Hall on the campus of the University of Louisiana at Monroe.

Applications

The 2027 Competition

Applications typically open in the fall, and the competition is usually held the second week of January. Exact dates, deadlines, and the application link for the 2027 competition will be announced — check back here, or contact the competition administrator to be notified when applications open.

Inquire About Applying Contact the MSO
Who May Enter

Divisions & Performance Categories

Age Divisions

  • Youth — ages 12 through high school graduation
  • Young Adult — college freshmen through age 25

Performance Categories

  1. Piano
  2. Winds, Brass, Percussion
  3. Strings
  4. Vocal
Format & Prizes

In the preliminary round, a winner may be chosen from each performance category in each age division; each preliminary winner receives a cash prize of $100. All preliminary winners then advance to a final round, held as a recital that same evening.

After the final round, the judges rank the finalists:

First Place

$1,000

May be invited to perform the following season with the MSO.

Second & Third

$500 · $250

Second place $500 · third place $250.

Rules

Competition Rules

  1. Applications are submitted through the online form, with a non-refundable application fee paid via PayPal. An early-deadline discount is typically offered, with the final deadline usually falling in late December.
  2. Entrants must be residents of Louisiana, Mississippi, or Arkansas, or be enrolled in a secondary or post-secondary institution in one of those states at the time of the competition.
  3. Instrumentalists perform the first or last movement of a standard concerto or concert piece for which orchestral accompaniment is available. Vocalists perform two concert or operatic arias in the original key for which orchestral accompaniments are available.
  4. All compositions must be in their original form — no transcriptions will be accepted. Each contestant performs the solo part in its entirety; orchestral interludes may be abbreviated at the performer’s discretion. Only live accompaniment is permitted. The entrant must provide a score or solo part for the judges at check-in — no photocopies.
  5. Entrants must perform from memory.
  6. The decision of the judges is final. If performances do not meet the judges’ standards, no winner will be selected. There will be no ties.
  7. The Monroe Symphony League is not responsible for any expenses incurred by entrants.
Good to Know

General Information

  1. Entrants are notified by email of their audition time prior to the competition.
  2. Preliminary-round winners are announced following the completion of each division’s preliminary round. Final winners are announced after the evening final-round recital.
  3. Each entrant arranges for his or her own accompanist. For assistance in finding an accompanist in the Monroe area, contact competition administrator Dr. Mel Mobley (mobley@ulm.edu) or Dr. Richard Seiler (seiler@ulm.edu) as early as possible. No guarantee is made for last-minute requests.
  4. Competition check-in is required at least 15 minutes before the contestant’s assigned audition time, with an original part or score for the judges.
  5. The Monroe Symphony League audition committee reserves the right to review and approve or disqualify applicants on the basis of their qualifications.

Competition Administrator

Dr. Mel Mobley

University of Louisiana at Monroe · mobley@ulm.edu

Carlos Suarez, violinist
2026 Competition Winner

Carlos Suarez, Violinist

The 2026 competition winner, violinist Carlos Suarez, performs Prokofiev’s Violin Concerto No. 2 with the full orchestra — featured on the Italian Journey season-opening program.

Get Tickets to Italian Journey
Recent Winners

A Legacy of Young Artists

2026 Winner · Performing October 10

Carlos Suarez

Violinist — Prokofiev Violin Concerto No. 2

2025

Elijah Asmussen

Emerging Artist Competition winner

2024

Po-Yu Fang

Emerging Artist Competition winner

2023

Samuel Garcia

Emerging Artist Competition winner

University of Louisiana Monroe

This program is made possible through the interest and generosity of the Monroe Symphony League, the Monroe Symphony Orchestra, and the ULM School of Visual and Performing Arts.