SummerArts Piano Competition
August 10, 2023 ~ Competition
August 12, 2023 ~ Winner Ceremony and Concert
Directed by Ning Lu
Each year, U School of Music hosts the SummerArts Piano Competition—a program that offers elementary through college piano students the opportunity to compete for cash awards, scholarships, and performance prizes. An international panel of judges will select concerto winners to perform with the Salt Lake Symphony and the American West Symphony live in Libby Gardner Concert Hall.
(Application fee for late entries (after July 28) will be an additional $25 accepted on a space available basis. Please add the late application fee to your order before you check out).
2023 SummerArts Concerto Winners Concert Assignments
All performers should email Prof. Ning Lu (ning.lu@music.utah.edu) with 50 words of biography and a photo for program by the end of September 2023.
Concert with the American West Symphony on January 22, 2024. Rehearsals are on January 16 & 19
Natalie Sun
Annie Jia
Andy Hu
Kourtney Jia
Sophia Borup
Emily Yang
Jasmine He
Concert with the Salt Lake Symphony on January 27, 2024. Rehearsals are on January 23 & 26
Zibo Wang
Jamison Ford
Hailey Bown
Angel Wang
Yanqi Wang
Avery Li
Xueji Jason Sun
Caleb Spjute
Concert with the American West Symphony on March 24, 2024. Rehearsal is on March 23
Brooklyn Lee
Vitor Young
Forest Young
- Must be Utah residents or currently attending Utah schools. Teachers of participating students will be required to help during the competition
- First-prize winner may compete in the same division again only with new repertoire
- Contestants may only enter one level per year
- May not play with a SummerArts orchestra in two consecutive years
- Young Artist competitors must be enrolled full-time as Piano Performance major and have a current GPA of 3.0 or higher
Concerto Competition
All age divisions can compete in solo, concerto or both divisions.
Concerto performances in the competition will be without accompaniment. For the orchestra performance, pre-college students will be limited to 15 minutes. If the concerto is longer than the allotted time, the teacher with the assistance of the conductor will prepare a cut. Each soloist will be given 10 complimentary tickets for the performance.
Contestants must prepare their entire selections for the competition without cuts. Judges will hear the entire concerto movement.
All concerto competitors must be Utah residents or attending a school in Utah. They must also be currently studying with a faculty member or recent graduate of the University of Utah School of Music. Past winners must wait one year before becoming eligible to perform with the orchestra again. Past winners can compete in the same division with new repertoire only.
Winners may not perform in two consecutive years. Concerto performance will be awarded solely based on the judges’ recommendations.
*Contestants wishing to perform a concerto that is not part of the University of Utah School of Music holdings will be responsible for the cost of rental/purchasing the music. View complete listing.
Solo Competition
All age divisions can compete in solo, concerto or both divisions.
- Two solo pieces, one baroque or classical.
- Pieces must be of contrasting styles and periods.
Previous first-place winners may enter the same division with new repertoire.
The length of the program should not exceed 15 minuets for the pre-college divisions, and 20 minutes for Young Artist. All pieces must be memorized.
Video Teaching Competition
Competitor must submit a YouTube link of a 30-45 minute video of a one-on-one piano private lesson.
Arne Oldberg composition
Arne Oldberg "Song Without Words" Memorization is required.
Young Elementary Division: Ages 10 and under
- Solo Competition: $100, $75, $50
- Concerto Competition (entire movement required)**
Elementary Division: Ages 11-12
- Solo Competition: $125, $100, $75
- Concerto Competition (entire movement required)**
Junior I Division: Ages 13-14
- Solo Prizes: $150, $125, $100
- Concerto Competition (entire movement required)**
Junior II Division: Ages 15 – 16
- Solo Prizes: $150, $125, $100
- Concerto Competition (entire movement required)**
Senior Division: Ages 17-18
- Solo Prizes: $175, $150, $125
- Concerto Competition (entire movement required)**
Young Artists Division*: College Students
*Young Artist competitors must be enrolled full-time as Piano Performance major at
the University of Utah to be eligible to compete.
- Solo Scholarship Prizes-Graduate: $500, $450, $400, $350
- Solo Scholarship Prizes-Undergraduate: $500, $450, $400, $350
- Concerto Competition (entire movement required)**
- Arne Oldberg Scholarship (Young Artist only): Scholarship Prize
- Teaching Award (Young Artist only): Scholarship Prize
Concerto Awards: Performance with the Salt Lake Symphony or the American West Symphony or the SummerArts Orchestra in 2023-2024 session in Libby Gardner Concert Hall.
Gift Certificates: Gift certificates may be given for an outstanding performance of a work from each of the following periods: Baroque, Classical, Romantic, Impressionist, and Twentieth Century.
In case of a tie, prizes will be shared. *All prizes subject to fundraising
- Age is determined as of August 10, 2023.
- All competition pieces must be played from memory.
- The order of performance will be by random drawing.
- Contestants must compete in the designated order of performance or be disqualified.
- We strongly encourage all contestants to report to monitor’s table 15 minuets prior to scheduled time.
- An original, unmarked copy of the music to be performed must be given to the monitor at this time.
- Competition times will be posted after August 8, 2023
- In case of a tie, prizes will be shared. *All prizes subject to fundraising
Participants can receive faculty evaluation without competing.
- One or two pieces, memorization is optional
Evaluation participants are not eligible for prizes.
2023 SummerArts Piano Competition Winner List
Young Elementary Solo
First Prize: Maxwell Ji
Second Prize: Natalie Sun
Third Prize: Crystal Jiang
Honorable Mention: Annie Jia
Honorable Mention: Abigail Yang
Young Elementary Concerto
First Prize: Natalie Sun
Second Prize: Annie Jia
Third Prize: Andy Hu
Honorable Mention: Peggy Wu
Honorable Mention: Abigail Yang
Elementary Solo
First Prize: Frederick Pau
Second Prize: Sophia Borup
Third Prize: Kourtney Jia
Honorable Mention: Ruyi Dai
Elementary Concerto
First Prize: Brooklyn Lee
Second Prize: Kourtney Jia
Third Prize: Sophia Borup
Honorable Mention: Melinda Zhou
Junior 1 Solo
First Prize: Victor Young
Second Prize: Zibo Wang
Third Prize: Forest Young
Honorable Mention: Olivia Jiang
Honorable Mention: Annie Lin
Junior 1 Concerto
First Prize: Vitor Young
Second Prize: Zibo Wang
Third Prize: Forest Young
Third Prize: Emily Yang
Junior 2 Solo
First Prize: Samuel Lu
Second Prize: Isabella Bueno
Third Prize: Fiona Jiang
Honorable Mention: Ada Clark
Honorable Mention: Mike Zou
Junior 2 Concerto
First Prize: Jamison Ford
Second Prize: Jasmine He
Third Prize: Marek Johnson
Honorable Mention: Nina Zhu
Senior Solo
First Prize: Conrad Flake
Second Prize: Hailey Bown
Third Prize: Kaden Elwood
Honorable Mention: Joyce Wang
Honorable Mention: Rachel Johnson
Senior Concerto
First Prize: Hailey Bown
Second Prize: Angel Wang
College:
Young Artist Solo
First Prize: Yanqi Wang
Second Prize: Meng Ding
Third Prize: Zhangyu Chen
Honorable Mention: Ke An
Honorable Mention: Jingwei Zhang
Fifth Prize: Jingyu Guo
Young Artist Concerto
First Prize: Yanqi Wang
Second Prize: Avery Li
Third Prize: Xueji Jason Sun
Fourth Prize: Caleb Spjute
Young Artist Arne Oldberg
First Prize: Yanqi Wang
Second Prize: Caleb Spjute
Young Artist Video Teaching
First Prize: Yanqi Wang
Second Prize: Zhangyu Chen
Third Prize: Ke An
Fourth Prize: Caleb Spjute
Winners and concerto performance schedule will be posted on August 15, 2023. All judging sheets and your prize certificates will be mailed to you.
In addition to your assigned competition time, please read the following instruction before coming to the university on August 10, 2023:
- We strongly encourage competitors to arrive at least 15 minutes before your assigned time and check in at the front desk. If you are late on your assigned competition time, you will forfeit your competition.
- For the pre-college division, bring 2 copies of the judging sheets for the appropriate division.
- For Young Artist Division, bring 3 copies of judging sheets for each competition you are competiting in.
- Download the judging sheets (below) and please fill the forms before arrival.
- Bring 1 original score of your pieces for judges.
- No audience is allowed on the competition site.
Judges
Esther Jeehae Ahn
Koji Atwood
Susan Duehlmeier
Cahill Smith
Judging Sheets
Solo Competition
Evaluation
Collaborative Competition
Concerto Competition
Arne Oldberg Competition
Concerto Performance Schedule
Concerto Performance
2023-2024 Schedule