The Pennsylvania Federation of Music Clubs (PFMC) Regional Competition for the western side of the state took place on APril 9th, 2022 at the Pittsburgh Youth Concert Orchestra (PYCO) teaching facility and recital hall located in Wexford, PA.
It was a rousing competition. Even with only 10 competitors, they all proved to be very well prepared by their teachers and were ready to perform for the judges.
The judges were Dr. Josie Merlino, James W. Iman, and Brina Davis. There was representation from most every class level in the NFMC Festivals program, from Medium level through Very Difficult. Not represented were the levels Moderately Difficult III and Musically Advanced I & II. This year, with the inaugural state competition being held in WIlliamsport, PA on April 30th, each class level had a FIRST PLACE winner. Those students were then invited to compete at the State Competition in both piano solo and concerto performances.
The winners for the PFMC West Regional Piano Competition who qualified to advance to the State competition were: Kaeda Cook, Caden Lewis, Ethan Kamau, MaryGrace Greco, Michelle Zheng, Cassidy Mineo, Sydney Montgomery, and Noah Castro. Many of these students listed have participated in previous years and many are new to the competition process. Congratulations to the winners!
On behalf of the PFMC, we are very proud of these students and ALL the students who competed this year in the West and East Regionals and we sent along best wishes to those competing in Williamsport. We also want to encourage more students to participate in this Piano Competition, as it provides an opportunity to perform their Festival required piece as part of a tiered Competition event with the chance to earn monetary awards. The PFMC supports students and promotes learning American music through the Federation and Festival program.
PFMC West Competition Chair, Charlene Hubbard
