The Annual Awards Competition is an opportunity for students to play one piece from memory before a judge. Monetary awards are given for 1st and 2nd place winners in each of four divisions: Senior, Intermediate, Junior II and Junior I.
The Awards Competition is an excellent way for students and their teachers to explore, study, and perform a wide range of piano repertoire. Each year the Competition will focus on a particular aspect of piano literature: an important composer, stylistic periods, genres, or music of particular countries. There will be no specific required repertoire. Rather, students and their teachers will be free to choose appropriate pieces that meet the general requirements for that particular Competition year. Teachers will be provided with a list of pieces that can be used as examples of repertoire for each level, as well as recommended resources for further literature.
2024 Theme: The Composer Was a Woman!
Date: Saturday, April 27, 2024
Location: West Michigan Piano
Enrollment Deadline: April 5, 2024
Fee: $15
Make checks payable to Piano Teachers' Forum of Grand Rapids or pay using our PayPal account: grptfluncheons@gmail.com
RULES OF THE ANNUAL AWARDS COMPETITION
1. The teacher must be a member of the Piano Forum, MMTA, and MTNA, with dues for the current year paid in full.
2. There is no limit to the number of students that a teacher may enter in any of the four Divisions.
3. Students are eligible for entry in the Junior I Division if they are in elementary school grades up through 6th grade, Junior II Division if in grades through 8th grade, Intermediate Division if in grades through 10th grade, and Senior Division if in grades through 12th grade.
4. Entrants will be assigned a number and judges will only know them by number, not by name or teacher.
5. Compositions must be memorized. No repeats should be taken except in the case of first and second endings and da capo and dal segno designations. The following time limits should be observed for each Division: Junior I: 5 minutes, Junior II: 6 minutes, Intermediate: 8 minutes and Senior: 10 minutes.
6. Awards will be granted as follows:
Senior Division: 1st Place - $100, 2nd Place - $60
Intermediate Division: 1st Place - $75, 2nd Place - $50
Junior II Division: 1st Place - $50, 2nd Place - $30
Junior I Division: 1st Place - $50, 2nd Place - $30
7. Each contestant will receive a certificate for participating. A First Place winner in one Division may not compete in the same Division the following year.
8. Judges shall be selected by the Awards Competition Committee/Director.
9. A First and Second Place winner will be named in each category. Judges shall be allowed to declare only a First Place winner or “no winner” in any Division if performances do not meet contest criteria. In the case of ties, the awards will be split between the two winners. The decision of the judges will be final.
10. No tape recording or video recording will be allowed.
11. The teacher should submit a single check covering all of his/her students’ enrollment fees. The check should be made payable to the Piano Teachers’ Forum of Grand Rapids and can be turned to the Awards Director at the meeting preceding the competition, or mailed directly to the Director.
12. Online registration and fees must be submitted by the deadline posted above.
13. The teacher should complete enrollment forms as accurately and completely as possible. Enrollment must be done online at www.ptfgr.org (click on Member Resources, then click Online Registration.) Select the Annual Awards Competition registration.
14. The performance times of participating students will be emailed to each teacher as soon as scheduling has been completed.
15. Teachers should be certain that students are able to appear at their scheduled time. No re-scheduling is possible.
16. First place winners will be asked to perform at the May meeting of the Piano Forum. The Second place winner will be asked to perform if the first place winner is unable to attend. At the discretion of the judge and Awards Competition Director Second place winners in all divisions may be asked to perform.
THEME & REPERTOIRE REFERENCES
This year's theme is: The composer was a woman!
Piano students can spend years of study without being aware of the women composers who were contemporaries of Haydn, Beethoven, Brahms, Mendelssohn or Debussy. The Achievement Tests many students take include a “Music History” section which does not name one woman composer, despite the fact that the eras covered are Baroque, Classical, Romantic, and Contemporary. From relatively few examples written during the Baroque, the repertoire from the Classical period on contains many pieces that are worth teaching. This gives teachers an opportunity to expand their knowledge of the repertoire and the context in which it was created. The spirit and determination of these women, often despite significant obstacles, has provided the inspiration for the many women composers who followed. This competition will focus on repertoire as it developed and reflected the historical periods in which it was written, including the early twentieth century. Only works written by women born before 1930 will be accepted.
The following are suggested sources for repertoire that is readily available:
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