Stubbs-Henbest-Davis High School Piano Competition

The 2021 Competition has passed. Congratulations to the winners and participants!

Application Deadline

• Application Opens: March 25, 2021
• Deadline for Application/Video Submissions: April 16, 2021 at 11:59pm

Dates for the 2022 competition will be posted here in August 2021. This competition traditionally takes place at the end of March.

Location

Virtual. Submit YouTube videos as outlined below.

Fees

A $35 non-refundable 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 ineligible.

Awards

• First Prize: $1,500
• Second Prize: $1,000
• Third Prize: $700

Winners will be presented at a student concert later in the season. All winners, including honorable mention, receive a one-year Student Membership in the Friday Morning Music Club.

Repertoire

• All selections must be performed from memory.
• All selections should be performed in their entirety.
• 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.

Video Requirements

• Upload each selection as a separate unlisted YouTube link (meaning you will have four links to submit in the application).
  • List the title of the piece and the composer as the title of your video.
  • Do not put your name or any identifying information in or on your media submission, including in the YouTube channel name.
• Please do not do any of the following as it may disqualify you:
  • Do not edit within a piece.
  • Do not use special effects, dissolves, fades or wipes.
  • Do not submit pre-recorded live performances, such as recitals, concerts, or competitions.
• Guidelines for Recording your Audition
  • Use a fixed point of view for your camera with you being the main focus. Shoot straight on, leaving the camera in one location. Do not pan or move the camera.
  • Camera should be no closer than waist up.
  • Ensure recording captures good quality image that is in focus.
  • Ensure recording equipment has the ability to capture good sound quality.
  • Make sure there is 1-3 seconds of silence before the beginning of the piece.
  • No sound enhancements or editing is allowed.
  • Hands and fingers must be visible.

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, Jennie Weyman, at manage@fmmc.org.

2021 Competition Winners

• First Prize/The George Manos Piano Prize: Madelyn Dwyer
• Second Prize: James Bennett
• Third Prize: Tan Nguyen
• Honorable Mentions: Harrison Benford and Trung Nguyen