George S. Manos High School Piano Competition

In-Person Competition

Competition Date: Sunday, March 29, 2026, 9am

Application deadline: The application is closed.

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.

2026 Competition Winners

• 1st Prize/The George Manos Piano Prize: Yuzhe Chen, 10th grade, Langley High School
• 2nd Prize: Michelle Wang, 12th grade, Glenelg High School
• 3rd Prize, Sean Kim, 12th grade, River Hill High School
• Honorable Mention: Brandon Zhang, 11th grade, Churchill High School