Stubbs-Henbest-Davis High School Piano Competition

Application Deadline

• Application Opens: March 25, 2021
• Deadline: April 16, 2021 at 11:59pm

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.

2018 Competition Winners

• First Prize/The George Manos Piano Prize: Eric Lin, 12th, Thomas Jefferson HS
• Second Prize: Angela Wu, 11th, Wootton HS
• Third Prize: Ethan Hsiao, 10th, BASIS Independent McLean
• Honorable Mention: Grace Wang, 12th, Richard Montgomery HS