George S. Manos High School Piano Competition
In-Person Competition
Competition Date: Sunday, March 29, 2026, 9am
Application deadline: March 8, 2026, 11:59pm
Apply Online
Location
Woman’s Club of Chevy Chase
7931 Connecticut Avenue, Chevy Chase, MD 20815
Fees
A $35 nonrefundable application fee is required by the deadline. Online only applications require this to be paid via credit card.
Eligibility
Piano students who are currently enrolled in grades 9-12, living within a 50-mile radius of Washington, DC. First-place winners from previous years are not eligible.
Awards
- First Prize: $1,500
- Second Prize: $1,000
- Third Prize: $700
Winners will be presented at a student concert later in the season. The winners have opportunities to perform in the FMMC Student Recitals throughout the season at various venues. In addition, the prizewinners and those awarded honorable mentions receive free FMMC Student Membership for 5 years. Prize money amounts may be altered or withheld at the discretion of the judges.
Repertoire
- All selections must be performed from memory.
- Any questions regarding repertoire should be sent to the competition chair.
- All decisions made by the judges are final.
- No changes in repertoire may be made after the application deadline.
- Students must play works from each of the following four categories:
- A prelude and fugue from either volume of the Well Tempered Clavier by J.S. Bach, or two other comparable pieces from the Baroque Period.
- The first movement of a sonata by Beethoven (excluding Op. 49), Mozart (excluding K 545), Haydn (excluding early Divertimenti), or Schubert.
- A substantial work from the Romantic Period.
- An impressionist work or a work from the 20th or 21st century.
Contact
Chen-Li Tzeng
Piano Competition Chair
highschoolpiano@fmmc.org
If you experience technical difficulties, need to make a change to your application, or realize you’ve made an error, please email Chen-Li, as well as FMMC Managing Director, Laila Linden, at manage@fmmc.org.
2025 Competition Winners
- First Prize/The George Manos Piano Prize: Zack Lam, Richard Montgomery High School, 11th Grade
- Second Prize: Clark Hu, River Hill High School, 11th Grade
- Third Prize: Derek Yang, Winston Churchill High School, 11th Grade
- Honorable Mention: Brandon Sang-Zheng, Thomas Jefferson High School, 9th Grade, Yuhan Li, National Cathedral School, 11th Grade
