15th Annual Chopin Piano Competition
A Special Anniversary
Saturday, September 17, 2016
250 Old Maxwell Road, Latham, NY 12110
(Watch the 14th Annual Chopin Piano Competition Winners' Concert)

About the Competition
15 Years of Masterful Atistry

​IMPORTANT UPDATE July 25, 2016
Registration is now full all levels

15 years ago marked the birth of the Annual Chopin Piano Competition. Please join us as we celebrate a decade-and-a-half of growth and brilliant musicianship as young musicians compete in this year's competition. The Annual Chopin Piano Competition event allows serious piano students throughout the region to showcase their skill. The Competition is judged by a panel of accomplished musicians and will be held at 250 Old Maxwell Road in Latham on Saturday, September 17, 2016.

Contestants perform one piece composed by Chopin, with Apprentice and Master level students selecting and additional composition from an approved repertoire. Winners and runners-up will perform for the community in a concert on Sunday, September 18.

Winners also receive cash prizes: The Chopin Novice winner is awarded  $100; the Chopin Apprentice level winner, $500; and the Chopin Master level winner, $1000. Runners-up receive $50, $100, and $250, respectively.

A new 2nd Runner-Up Mazurka Award has been added to the Apprentice-Level. 

Use of the Steinway Concert Grand piano is being donated by Artist Pianos in Latham. The awards will be presented at the Winners’ Concert and a special 15th Anniversary reception will follow, featuring gourmet desserts.

Competition Rules
Please read below as some age requirements have been amended as of April 29, 2016

Download The Registration Form

• The competition is open to piano students between the ages 6 - 19 who live or study within a 50 mile radius of the Capital District. 
• Include one copy of the composition(s) you have chosen to play for the competition.
• Apprentice and Master level students must select an additional composition from the list of approved selections (found below).
• Registration is limited to first 10 applications received in each level.
• Applicants may choose to be on a waiting list if a level is full.
• Previous winners of the Chopin Competition are ineligible to compete in same level. 
• By September 3rd, we will notify you of the time of your performance and other logistics.
• First and 2nd Place winners agree to perform in a Winners Concert on September 18.
• Non-refundable registration fee of $35 is due with Registration Form.
• The 2016 Competition will be adjudicated by faculty from SUNY Fredonia's School of Music

​
Chopin Novice
May choose any Chopin composition
​
Chopin Apprentice
Participant must play two compositions: 1) any Chopin composition of choice, and 2) one from the following list:

Mazurkas:

Op. 6 No.4
Op. 17 No. 1
Op. 17 No. 2
Op. 24 No. 1 
Op. 24 No. 2
Op. 24 No. 3
Op. 30 No. 2
Op. 30 No. 3
Op. 33 No. 1

​​Op. 33 No. 2​​
Op. 33 No. 3 
Op. 41 No. 1 
Op. 41 No. 4 
Op. 56 No. 2
Op. 59 No. 2
Op. 63 No. 1
Op. 63 No. 3

Chopin Master
Participant must be at least 13 years old* and play two compositions: 1) any Chopin composition of choice, and 2) one Etude in either Op. 10 or Op. 25 (Excluding Op. 10, No. 3 and Op. 25, No. 7)

* Age requirement can be waived if student has won first place in the Apprentice Level and is competent to compete in the Master Level. (updated 4/29/16) 
​Registration requirement amendment does not affect the status of registrations already received.

Meet the ​Adjudicators

Dr. Jeffrey Francom

Jeffrey Francom, Associate Professor and coordinator of the choral area at the State University of New York at Potsdam, directs the Crane Chorus, Hosmer Choir and Men's Ensemble, and teaches courses in conducting and choral methods. He serves on the faculty of Crane Youth Music and was previously the director of the Potsdam Community Chorus. Under his direction, the Crane Chorus and Crane Symphony Orchestra appear annually on public television stations in 26 states. He recently conducted world premieres of works for chorus and orchestra by William Averitt, Michael Sitton and Gregory Wanamaker, as well as the U.S. premiere of Ben Parry's Flame. In 2014, the Crane Men's Ensemble was featured on the Delos album All the Heart of Me: The Choral Music of Margaret Ruthven Lang.

Previously, Dr. Francom resided on Long Island where he directed the Stony Brook Camerata Singers and the Babylon Chorale. He taught at two Suffolk County Community College campuses, and conducted performances with the Suffolk Singers and College Choir. He was the recipient of Stony Brook University's Ackerman Prize, as well as the Ralph Vaughan Williams Research Fellowship sponsored by the Carthusian Trust. Dr. Francom has been the guest conductor of many county and regional all-state choirs, and has conducted opera and musical theater productions with Stony Brook Opera, the Lynn Clark Summertime Players and Bellport High School. For three years, Dr. Francom was the choral director at Mandarin High School in Jacksonville, Florida.

As a conductor, singer, and concerto soloist on piano, Dr. Francom has collaborated with orchestras across the country, including the New West Symphony, Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra, and San Diego Symphony. He has prepared choirs for Helmuth Rilling, Ann Howard Jones, Christof Perick, Larry Rachleff and others; for performances on the SUNY Potsdam campus and at the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in New York City. He has conducted and presented at NYSSMA conferences and currently serves as a board member of NY-ACDA. Dr. Francom holds degrees in conducting from Stony Brook University (DMA) and the University of Florida (MM), and in piano performance from Utah State University.

Julie Welsh Miller

Julie Welsh Miller, Adjunct Instructor, Crane School of Music, has been teaching piano at the university level for thirty years, and her former students teach at every level from elementary to university. One of her principal interests is collaborating with other musicians; she performs in 60-100 recitals yearly. She has developed an extensive repertoire playing for students, colleagues, and guest artists.

Miller's other principal interest is editing, publishing, and performing the music of Keith Gates (1948-2007). For more information and recordings, see keithgates.com.

Miller holds degrees in piano performance from the University of Oklahoma and the University of Illinois. She graduated from OU with highest honors, and was the Outstanding Senior in the College of Fine Arts. She has done post-graduate work at Michigan State University and the University of Southern California. She has taught at Henderson State University, Ouachita Baptist University, McNeese State University, and SUNY Potsdam.
 
Miller lives in Potsdam with her husband Lane, son Ben, and daughter Sarah​