The GDYO is proud to present the inaugural season of our Piano Competition.
DETAILS AND PRIZES
One winner will perform with the Greater Dallas Youth Orchestra on the March 14,
2027, Young Virtuosi Concert at the Meyerson Symphony Center at 7:30 p.m.
All remaining Finalists will receive Honorable Mention
All Finalists must also perform at the GDYO Piano Competition Finals on Sunday,
January 10, 2027, at Collora Piano at 1:00PM.
ELIGIBILITY
The Competition is open to all pianists enrolled in high school residing within 50 miles of
the GDYO office at the Sammons Center for the Arts. First Prize winners are not eligible to compete
in subsequent competitions. All Finalists will receive an award certificate.
REPERTOIRE
Contestants may enter with one movement of a piano concerto or a single-movement
concert piece for piano and orchestra. The Concerto movement or work must be less
than 20 minutes including all orchestral tuttis. All repertoire is subject to approval by the
GDYO Music Director. The same piece must be performed in both rounds and for the
Winner’s concert.
All performances must be by memory.
ACCOMPANIST
An accompanist is required for both rounds. You must provide your own accompanist.
APPLICATION DEADLINE
The online application deadline is December 11, 2026, which will include link to a video
of the complete concerto movement or piece with piano accompaniment as well as a
$50 application fee.
PRELIMINARY ROUND (VIDEO)
The Preliminary Round will video only and will be adjudicated by a panel of three judges
using a consistent rating scale and matrix to ensure consistency and fairness. None of
judges are allowed to have any recent (at least five years) relationship to the competitor.
Video requirements:
- Video must be unedited (color correction, cropping, and trimming beginning and
ending are allowed). - Video must show the competitor’s entire body and enough of the accompanist to prove
that it is a live piano accompaniment. - Orchestral tuttis should be tastefully abbreviated as much as possible.
- For best presentation, the video should be recorded using an audio capture device
that does not fluctuate with volume (i.e. not a regular iPhone video). Applicants will not
be penalized for production value, but it is optimal to get uncompressed and unadjusted
sound. - The video may be uploaded to YouTube, Vimeo, or shared with Google Drive or
Dropbox and set to UNLISTED.
Competitors will receive comments from each judge including their rating.
Finalists will be announced no later than December 21, 2026, at 6PM.
FINAL ROUND
Sunday, January 10, 2027, 1-4PM at Collora Piano and is free and open to the public. There
will be no more than one third the total number of entrants admitted to the finals and not
more than 10. The Finals order performance will be determined randomly and
announced with the names of the Finalists. No order changes are allowed. All Finalists
will have a short warm up time immediately before their final round performance.
Afternoon concert attire is recommended.
AWARD DECISIONS
The competition judges are selected by the GDYO Music Director and have complete
discretion to determine who advances to the Finals and to award any prizes, including
First Prize. All decisions are final. All judges are required to attest they have no recent
(five year minimum) relationship with the competitors.
RECORDING
A video of the Final round performances will be recorded and distributed to all
participants, so no outside recording of the finals is allowed. GDYO reserves the rights
to post online finals performances in part or in whole.
RELEASE
All applicants must agree to:
- adhere to all stipulations stated above;
- allow audio and video taping and broadcast of all GDYO activities for
non-commercial and general promotional use by the GDYO; - if advanced to the Finals, be available on Sunday, January 10, 2027, between 1-4PM; and,
- be available to perform on the March 14, 2027, Young Virtousi Concert with
the Greater Dallas Youth Orchestra at the Meyerson
Symphony Center at 7:30 p.m.
If these conditions are not met, the applicant may forfeit his or her prize, and it will be up
to the discretion of the GDYO Music Director to determine if the prize will be awarded to
another competitor.
Judging Criteria
Click to Download a copy of the judges rubric.