Finalists announced for the Film Music Composition Contest 2025
The annual WSA Film Music Composition Contest invites young screen composers under the age of 36 to showcase their talent by writing an original symphonic score for a selected film, TV or game excerpt. This year’s selected excerpt pays tribute to the late David Lynch’s biographical drama The Elephant Man (1980), in which ‘elephant man’ Joseph Merrick is unmasked and harassed by a hostile crowd through Liverpool Street station. Originally composed by John Morris, this compelling scene now serves as a canvas for new talent. A professional jury, chaired by Film Fest Gent Music Director Dirk Brossé, has selected emerging composers Neville Bharucha, Théo Cascio and Bongseob Kim as the three finalists whose brand-new scores will be performed live by the Brussels Philharmonic at the World Soundtrack Awards Ceremony & Concert taking place at Music Centre De Bijloke in Ghent on 15 October 2025.
Neville Bharucha
Neville Bharucha began piano lessons with his father at age 4 and was soon composing short pieces. He earned a master’s degree in Music Performance at the University of Southampton where he studied under renowned pianist and composer David Owen Norris, followed by a second master’s degree in Composition for Moving Images at City University in London. He is the winner of the 24th Ennio Porrino International Piano Competition and was awarded the Kerr Memorial Prize for Outstanding Musicianship at the Royal Overseas League Competition. Neville currently heads the production department of Groves Sound Communications in Hamburg, composing for film and TV.
© Solène MollièreThéo Cascio
Théo Cascio started playing the violin at age 5 and switched to piano at 14. He earned his degree in Composition at the Reims Conservatory under André Serre-Milan and continued his studies in Orchestration with Olivier Kaspar at the Saint-Maur Conservatory. He also specialised in film scoring with Fabien Cali at the Argenteuil Conservatory and later joined the film scoring programme at the Conservatoire national supérieur de musique et de danse de Lyon, where he obtained his bachelor’s degree in 2024. Théo has scored several documentaries including The Secret Life of the Andean Bear, Four Seasons with the Pandas and The Last Territory of the Lynx. With Fabien Cali, he also co-scored It Was the Algerian War, The Picasso Affair and In the Footsteps of Clément VI.
Bongseob Kim
Bongseob Kim grew up in an artistic household in South Korea. Originally trained as a trumpet player, he began studying Composition at the age of 18. He holds a bachelor’s degree from Korea Baptist Theological University and Seminary and a master’s degree from ChungNam National University, where he is currently pursuing a doctoral degree in Composition. He is the founder and president of the CN Contemporary Music Society, promoting new music creation and performance. His works have been selected for various projects and festivals, including Elixir of Love (performed by Ensemble Écoute), Orbits of Reveries (featured at the Daegu Contemporary Music Festival), and Zephyr’s Resonance (premiered at the Seoul Arts Center).
Creative Partnership Lab
The three finalists will be invited to the WSA Film Music Days from 14 to 16 October during the 52nd edition of Film Fest Gent, where they will also take part in the Creative Partnership Lab. This initiative brings emerging composers and young filmmakers together to foster future collaborations.
The winner of the World Soundtrack Award for Best Original Composition by a Young Composer powered by Vienna Synchron Stage will be selected during the World Soundtrack Awards Ceremony & Concert on 15 October 2025 by a professional jury presided by Film Fest Gent Music Director Dirk Brossé, including Classics Curator Patrick Duynslaegher, composer Michelino Bisceglia and directors Meltse Van Coillie and Anne Verbeure.
“The World Soundtrack Awards stimulate young talent worldwide with a unique film music competition. From hundreds of submissions, the jury selected three compelling scores for an excerpt from ‘The Elephant Man’, each with its own powerful musical vision. It’s a springboard for young composers to hear their work brought to life by a professional orchestra.”
Previous winners include Giacomo Rita (2022, excerpt from Nosferatu), Alec Sievern (2023, excerpt from video game Abzû) and 2024’s winner Florian van der Reijden (excerpt from Nicolas Roeg’s cult classic The Witches). Check all previous winners at WSAwards.com.
The WSA nominees in all categories, including Film Composer of the Year, TV Composer of the Year, and Best Original Song will be announced on 5 August.
