Star City Piano Competition

 Shaftman Performance Hall

The Star City International Piano Competition is a unique competition that focuses on developing pianists who exhibit individual creativity in cross genres of music. Roanoke Virginia, the Star City, has a vibrant musical community and the Roanoke Symphony Orchestra and its partners, Jefferson Center, the premier performance hall in Southwest Virginia and Hollins University with their 13 Steinway pianos and campus-based rehearsal and performance halls, have made a commitment to providing diverse opportunities to showcase musical excellence.

The Star City Piano competition has a mission to feature piano artists that have the ability to meet the expectations of a modern musician. To that end, the participants will be required to perform both classical and jazz/popular/world-influenced musical repertoire, as well as demonstrate the ability to speak to and engage audiences. In the final round, contestants will be required to perform the Rachmaninoff Piano Concerto No. 2 in C minor Opus 18, first movement and a jazz/popular/world influenced contemporary solo piano piece of music, no longer than five minutes in length. The competition is open to pianists of any nationality between the age of 18 and 30 years. Applicants must be at least 18 years old and no more than 30 years old on January 20, 2012. The competition will be performed on Steinway pianos.

Final round judges will include Christopher O'Riley, Pavlina Dokovska and David Stewart Wiley.