Steinway 2018 Piano Competition

The new Steinway & Sons Piano Competition, for young pianists ages 18 and under, will take place locally at Steinway Piano Gallery-St. Louis on Friday and Saturday, June 22 and 23. This prestigious competition is an extension of Steinway’s unwavering commitment to the pursuit of superior artistic expression through piano performance.

The competition, which is open to the public, will take place in the Jane Allen Recital Hall at Steinway Piano Gallery, located at 12033 Dorsett Rd in Maryland Heights. Thirty-seven young pianists will compete in three divisions: Division I (ages 9 and under) begins Friday at 3pm; Division II (ages 10-13) begins Saturday at 10am; Division III (ages 14-18) begins Saturday at 1pm.

The judges will award first place prizes of: Division I - $400, Division II - $700, Division III - $1000.

First, second, and third place winners will receive commemorative medals and national recognition on the Steinway & Sons website. All participants will receive a certificate of participation and judges’ comments.

Judges are Sean Chen, third prize winner at the 2013 Van Cliburn International Piano Competition, Artist-in-Residence at the University of Missouri, Kansas City, and a Steinway Artist. Donna Vince, a member of the Webster University piano faculty, has presented workshops in Missouri and Illinois covering a broad range of topics in piano pedagogy, and she is a regular adjudicator for competitions and festivals. Patricia Eastman, also on the piano faculty at Webster University, is a former vice president of the St. Louis Area Music Teachers Association and a founding board member of Pianos for People, a non-profit organization that ‘connects people who need pianos with pianos that need people.’ Together, Vince and Eastman perform as the professional piano duo, Duo Albireo, and they direct the Webster University Summer Classical Piano Camps and Autumn Piano Ensemble Festival.