Music

CWU PianoFest

Saturday Oct. 5, 2024

Thank you for your interest in this year’s PianoFest. We are thrilled again to welcome the finest young pianists of Washington State to our beautiful stage here in Central Washington University’s Dr. Wayne S. Hertz Concert Hall. Live participants will be eligible for a Gold, Silver, Bronze, and Honorable Mention awards, as well as special prize for best performance of a Connor Chee piece, along with performance recording, certificate/plaque and comments. Online participants are eligible for Gold, Silver, Bronze, and Honorable Mention awards along with certificates and written comments. 

Special Prize: Best Performance of Connor Chee

• Junior $250 & Special Award plaque and certificate
• Intermediate $250 & Special Award plaque and certificate
• Senior $250 & Special Award plaque and certificate

We are very much looking forward to hearing your performances! 

Sincerely,

Co-Directors, 
Dr. Ross Salvosa & Dr. Yerin Kim 

CWU Pianofest Schedule

Application Deadline: Sept. 15, 2024 (Live & Online participants) 

• Live competition - no pre-screening video submission required
• Online competition - video submission and application required

Live competition at CWU: Saturday Oct. 5, 2024 9 a.m. - 5 p.m.

• Individual performance times will be sent out the first week of April 

Online competition results: TBA

• Results will be announced of CWU Music website, social media and email 

Award Ceremony/Winner’s Concert for Live Competition: TBA

• PianoFest Artist Concert: TBA

Eligibility and Repertoire Requirements 

• Junior Category I, Ages 9 and under, 10 minutes
  A movement or multiple movements from Clementi Sonatina Op. 36 (any) AND one freely chosen work OR Connor Chee’s Navajo Vocable for Piano No. 2 from the Navajo Piano Collection
• Junior Category II, Ages 10 -12, 12 minutes
  A movement or multiple movements from Khulau Sonatina Op. 55 (any) AND one freely chosen work OR Connor Chee’s Navajo Vocable for Piano No. 2 from the Navajo Piano Collection
• Intermediate Category I, Ages 13-15, 13 minutes
  A movement or multiple movements from Haydn Sonata (any) AND one freely chosen work OR Connor Chee’s Sandpainting for Piano No. 13 “Jet” from the Sandpaintings for Piano: 
• Intermediate Category II, Ages 16-18, 15 minutes
  A movement or multiple movements from Mozart Sonata (any) AND one freely chosen work OR Connor Chee’s Sandpainting for Piano No. 13 “Jet” from the Sandpaintings for Piano: 
• Collegiate/Advanced Category, Ages 19-26, 20 minutes
  A movement or multiple movements from Beethoven Sonata (any) AND one freely chosen work OR Connor Chee’s Sandpainting for Piano No. 4 “Eastern Mountain” from the Sandpaintings for Piano: 

Awards

Each category will be awarded Gold, Silver, Bronze, and Honorable Mention as well as special cash award for best performance of Connor Chee. Gold prize winners will perform during the award ceremony of one piece of their choosing which will be recorded professionally and live-streamed. Only the Award Ceremony and the Artist Concert will be live-streamed. 

All participants will receive comment sheets with a performance certificate. 

Adjudication packets will be ready for pick up after the award ceremony. These packets will be distributed at the Information Desk located in the Lobby. Parents or teachers may pick up packets. Online participants will receive their comments and certificates electronically. 

Music Scores

Memorization is not a requirement. Participants are required to present original or certified online sources of their scores to the judges. All measures are to be numbered. Because of the length of some selections, pieces are to be performed with no repeats. Photocopies will not be accepted. 

Participants who are performing the Connor Chee piece, scores are available for purchase at the composer’s website.

Registration Fee

• Live participants : $35 
• Online participants : $30

Recording Guidelines for Online Participants:

• Please use landscape, horizontal, orientation for your video.
• Profile angles are preferred! We just want to be able to see your hands and your profile.
• We understand a concert hall space and professional equipment is not available to everyone submitting their recordings. This will not be a factor in adjudication. You will be judged solely on your performance and musicianship.
• When you are ready to upload your recording to Youtube, please title the video using the name format Name_CWU_Pianofest_Piece1. For example, for a pianist with the name Kim, the submission titles should be: Kim_CWU_Pianofest_Piece1 and Kim_CWU_Pianofest_Piece2. Please upload your recording visibility as "unlisted" and then copy/paste the links to the Recording Submission page (available here soon)

2024 PianoFest Adjudicators 

• Dr. William Chapman Nyaho, Pacific Lutheran University
• Dr. Julia Hwakyu Lee, Portland State University
• Dr. Fabio Manchetti, Washington State University
• Dr. Ross Salvosa, Central Washington University

2024 PianoFest Artists

• Dr. Oksana Ejokina, Pacific Lutheran University
• Dr. Emely Phelps, Ohio University
• Dr. Yerin Kim, Central Washington University  

Contact Information

Dr. Ross Salvosa
ross.salvosa@cwu.edu
Central Washington University