Solo Performance Competitions (2026)
Solo Performance Competitions
SOLO PERFORMANCE COMPETITIONS (Coordinating Chairperson: Arnel Montgomery) are held in four categories based on age levels and students must perform both solo pieces from memory:
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EARLY ELEMENTARY: up to age 9
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ELEMENTARY: up to age 11
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EARLY INTERMEDIATE: up to age 13
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INTERMEDIATE: up to age 15
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A First and Second place award will be given for each level.
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The First place winner in each level will perform both pieces at the May general meeting. Participation in the winners’ recital is a mandatory requirement, so students and their parents must be made aware of the meeting’s date. The First place winner in each level may compete again in the same level (based on the age criterion) or move to a higher level (again based on the age criterion).
Deadline for applications in all levels is a postmark date of March 15, 2026.
There will be NO exceptions!
Teachers (not parents or students) must submit the applications, which are available on the website or at the general meetings. See individual descriptions below for required pieces, specific contact person for each level, dates and location of competition, fees, and award amounts. All fees are non-refundable.
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Audition times are specific and final the day of the event and latecomers cannot be accommodated.
Only one entrant per level per teacher will be allowed. Age is determined by January 1 of the competition year.
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Teachers of winning solo students will be notified by email the day of the competition. The judges’ decision is final and may not be challenged by teacher, entrants, parents or guardians.
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REMINDER: A teacher must be a paid member of PPTA by September 1, prior to the date of the competition. The students must have worked solely with the PPTA member on all pieces performed or submitted for the competition.
Coordinating Chairperson Contact Information:
Arnel Montgomery
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Cell: 412-860-7093
Home: 412-795-7947
Email: ilovethepiano2003@yahoo.com
Category Chairpersons
Send completed applications for performance competitions to individual chairpersons listed below.
Early Elementary: up to age 9
​PYCO School of Music: Room 200
Saturday afternoon, April 25, 2026
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Inna July
AWARDS:
1st Place $50.00
2nd Place $40.00
ENTRY FEE:
$15.00
Pastorale from Sonatina No. 1 in G major by Theodore Latour
Selected Sonatinas, Book 1, p. 14
Published by Kjos, Edited by Keith Snell
Exploring Mars by Carolyn Miller
Musical Planets, Later Elementary Level
Published by Willis Music Company or digital download at Sheet Music Plus
Elementary: up to age 11
​PYCO School of Music: Room 200
Saturday afternoon, April 18, 2026
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Raelene Bluhm
AWARDS:
1st Place $75.00
2nd Place $50.00
ENTRY FEE:
$15.00
Prelude from Twenty-four Little Pieces Op. 39 No. 19 by Kabalevsky
Publisher Kjos, Edited by Keith Snell
The Glass Slipper by William Gillock
Accent on Gillock Volume 2
Published by Willis Music Company
Early Intermediate: up to age 13
PYCO School of Music Recital Hall
Saturday morning, April 25, 2026
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Andrea Doyle
AWARDS:
1st Place $125.00
2nd Place $75.00
ENTRY FEE:
$15.00
The Purple Finch And The Humming Bird by Seymour Bernstein
The Birds: a Suite of Eight Impressionistic Studies
Published by Manduca Music Publications
(Note: This book must be ordered from the publisher. See Snippets)
Gigue en Rondeau, from Pieces de Clavacin, RTC 2-4 by Jean-Philippe Rameau
Available on IMSLP or the RCM Level 8 book
Intermediate: up to age 15
​PYCO School of Music Recital Hall
Saturday morning, April 25, 2026
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Arnel Montgomery
Cell: 412-860-7093
Home: 412-795-7947
AWARDS:
1st Place $150.00
2nd Place $100.00
ENTRY FEE:
$20.00
Rigaudon, Op. 40 No 5 from Holberg Suite by Edvard Grieg
Any Standard Edition
(NO repeats, but including the Trio section and the D.C. al Fine)
Cancion Y Danza No. 7 by Federico Mompou
Available from Marks/Hal Leonard or any standard edition
(Take both the Song and Dance) ​