The Simon-Fiset Suite of Competitions
The Simon-Fiset Competitions were established to encourage young students to continue the serious study of music by acknowledging their exceptional ability, application, and meritorious accomplishment by awarding monetary prizes in the areas of composition, piano, and strings. The legacy of these outstanding opportunities represents one of SMTA’s premier offerings for young musicians in the Seattle area. We hope to see you and your students at next season’s Simon-Fiset!
Click here to read about the history of these competitions.
Piano Division
The Simon-Fiset Piano Division is supported by a generous gift from Willard Schultz.
Thank you to all participants, teachers, and volunteers! You can find results and recognitions here.
Chair: Thom Stuart
Event Dates: February 8 - 9, 2025
Location: Seattle Chamber Music Society
Registration:
January 2 - January 20 (8:00 am PT no exceptions)
2024 Results: Click here to view
Guidelines: Click to download 2025 Guidelines
As the professional standard of this competition requires extensive effort and cost to ensure the utmost quality for students, all registration fees are final and nonrefundable.
2025 Registration is Closed
SMTA is happy and proud to present the annual Simon-Fiset Piano Competition, which is scheduled for February 8 and 9, 2025. We are also thrilled that last year’s host, Seattle Chamber Music Society (“SCMS”) will again welcome us to their beautiful, state-of-the-art center in downtown Seattle at Union Square.
We are also excited to announce our 2025 Simon-Fiset Piano adjudicators, Dr. Donna Lee, Coordinator of Piano Studies at Kent State University and Dr. Stephen Pierce of the University of Southern California Thornton School of Music.
Also, please check Staccato Notes and the website for registration and other details. Also, don’t hesitate to reach out to Thom Stuart, SMTA VP of Competitions or Dr. Leann Osterkamp He, SMTA’s Administrative Coordinator. You can reach Thom at: simonfisetpiano@gmail.com.
Performance space at Chamber Music Society
Venue: Seattle Chamber Music Society
2025 Adjudicators:
Dr. Donna Lee, Coordinator of Piano Studies at Kent State University
Dr. Stephen Pierce, University of Southern California Thornton School of Music
Dr. Stephen Pierce
South African born pianist, Stephen Pierce enjoys a varied career as a teacher, presenter, performer, adjudicator, clinician, and scholar. At the University of Southern California, he oversees the secondary piano and keyboard pedagogy programs and teaches applied piano and piano pedagogy. Stephen also teaches piano privately in Pasadena, and at Interlochen Arts Camp each summer.
A regular presenter throughout the US and South Africa, Stephen has given presentations, masterclasses and workshops in South Africa and the United States at conferences such as the National Conference on Keyboard Pedagogy (NCKP), and for arts entities such as The Gilmore. His written contributions have appeared in journals such as Piano Pedagogy Forum, and The South African Music Teacher, as well on the Royal Conservatory of Music (RCM) Online Teacher Portal, and the Yamaha Educator Suite.
Stephen has performed in the USA, Canada, Czech Republic, and throughout South Africa, and won prizes and awards for his playing including second prize and two special prizes at the UNISA National Piano Competition in South Africa. He has also received awards for his teaching including the D.J. Rhoode Overseas Scholarship for Piano Pedagogy from the University of South Africa (UNISA). In addition, his performances have been broadcast on South African television and radio.
Stephen is an MTNA Foundation Fellow, as well as an RCM Academic Ambassador, Examiner and Certified Teacher. He is currently CAPMT Collegiate Chapter state chair and formerly served as the CAPMT Vice President for Conferences, District 9 Director and as editor of CAPMT Connect. Stephen holds degrees in piano performance from the University of Cincinnati College Conservatory of Music, and the University of Pretoria, South Africa, and two licentiates of music from the University of South Africa. His mentors include Joseph Stanford, Frank Weinstock, and Michelle Conda. For more information, visit his website: stephenpiercepiano.com
Dr. Donna Lee
Steinway artist Donna Lee made her solo debut in 1990 with the National Symphony Orchestra. She has since appeared as a soloist and collaborative artist at Kennedy Center’s Concert Hall and Terrace Theater in Washington, DC and Lincoln Center’s Alice Tully Hall in New York City. She has concertized in Asia, Europe and throughout the US, with performances in Shenyang, China, Brno, Czech Republic and Maui, Hawaii. Donna made her solo recording debut on the Azica label and in 2011, released a recording on the Blue Griffin label of Felix Mendelssohn’s Complete works for cello and piano with cellist Keith Robinson. Fanfare Magazine called the disc,” …quite simply, amazing”.
Critics have described Donna Lee’s performances as elegant and refined (Il Fronimo, Italy), engaging (WCLV-Cleveland) and brilliant (Iwate Daily News, Japan). As a soloist and chamber musician, she has performed at the Ameri-China Festival in China, Gotland Chamber Music Festival in Sweden, Brevard Music Center in North Carolina, Interlochen Arts Center in Michigan, Kent Blossom Music Festival in Ohio, Maui Classical Music in Hawaii, Music-on-the-Hill in Rhode Island and Classical Tahoe in Nevada. A frequent collaborator with clarinetist Daniel Gilbert, the husband-wife duo has performed in recital throughout the United States, including recent performances in Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Louisiana, Michigan, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Nevada, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, South Carolina and Washington as well as in Chengdu, China.
An acclaimed pedagogue, Donna Lee has received accolades for her teaching. In October of 2021, she was inducted into the Steinway & Sons Teacher Hall of Fame, a prestigious designation recognizing the work of North America’s most committed and passionate piano teachers. In that same year, she received a Distinguished Teaching Award from Kent State University, the institution’s highest teaching honor, where she serves on the faculty as Professor and Coordinator of Piano. Donna is also artist-faculty and Coordinator of Piano at Brevard Music Center in North Carolina, one of America’s premier summer training programs and festivals.
A native of Silver Spring, Maryland, Donna Lee earned her doctorate from Peabody Conservatory of The Johns Hopkins University, Masters from The Juilliard School, and Bachelor of Music degree from the University of Maryland, College Park, where she studied with prominent artist-teachers Julian Martin, the late Rudolf Firkušný, and Thomas Schumacher, respectively.
Low Strings Division
Chair: Haeyoon Krentz
Registration: Open to cello and double bass student from January 30 - February 24, 2025 (8:00 am PT, no late registrations, no exceptions).
Event Date: March 11, 2025
Location: Maple Leaf Lutheran Church
2025 Adjudicator: Bruce Walker
Registration will be in February. Please watch future Staccato Notes and the website for details and information on the dates, rules, and fees or contact Haeyoon Krentz at haeyoonsk12@gmail.com.
The Simon-Fiset Low Strings Competition is open to students ages 5-18 who have not graduated from high school.
2025 Registration
Check if your teacher is a member here or by emailing smtaoffice@gmail.com.
“Make sure you have read the 2025 Guidelines and read the above boxes before registering! ”
Dr. Bruce Walker
Bruce Walker is an Associate Professor of Music at Columbia Basin College in Pasco, WA, Music Director for the Walla Walla Symphony Youth Orchestra, Past President of the Washington chapter for the American String Teachers Association, on the Board of Directors for the Suzuki Association of the Americas, College/University representative for the Washington Music Educators Association, and the 2021 Music Educator of the Year by the Washington Music Educators Association. Previously, he has held the positions of Music Director for the Yakima Youth Symphony and Oregon East Symphony Youth Orchestras.
During the summer months, Mr. Walker works throughout the United States and Canada at various Suzuki institutes, music camps, festivals, and retreats. Internationally, he has also worked with the Youth Excellence on Stage Academy in collaboration with American Voices, a non-profit, cultural exchange organization. Through this organization, he has conducted orchestras and taught cello in Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, and Jordan.
As a conductor, Mr. Walker participated in many workshops and music festivals across the United States such as the Marrowstone Music Festival, Pierre Monteux School for Conductors and Orchestral Musicians, various workshops sponsored by the Conductor’s Guild, Astoria Music Festival, Rose City International Conductor’s Workshop, and the University of Oregon Orchestral Conducting Institute. He has appeared as guest conductor with the Central Washington University Symphony, Oregon East Symphony, Yakima Symphony, Portland Columbia Symphony, and the Musicians of the Spokane Symphony Orchestra. Memorable for his unique style of positive student engagement, analogies, and his knowledge of the orchestral repertoire, Mr. Walker is also in high demand as an adjudicator and guest conductor for many All-State and Honors Orchestras throughout the United States, most recently conducting the 2021 Nevada All-State Symphony Orchestra. Upcoming engagements include working with orchestras and schools in throughout the Pacific Northwest and Alabama and presenting at various conferences.
Mr. Walker earned Bachelor of Music degrees in Music Education and Cello Performance from Southern Illinois University Edwardsville and a Master of Music degree from Central Washington University focusing on Orchestral Conducting and Cello Performance. In the fall of 2019, he began his Doctor of Music Arts degree in Music Education through Boston University. When not in the classroom, on the podium working with ensembles, or teaching cello lessons, he enjoys hiking and traveling around the Pacific Northwest, enjoying time outside around a BBQ pit and smoker sampling new culinary creations, or shopping for and admiring argyle socks.
High Strings Division
Chair: Jan Coleman
The 2025 Simon-Fiset High Strings Competition is open to violin and viola students who have not yet graduated from high school who are age 18 or younger on March 1, 2025.
Registration:
Registration reached capacity on 2/12 at 11:00pm. We thank you for your interest and hope to hear you next year!
Starts February 10 at 8am PT for students whose teachers are members of SMTA. Registration starts February 13 at 8am PT for students whose teachers are not members of SMTA. Registrations will be accepted on a first-come, first-served basis through 11:59pm PT on February 17, or until the venue time limit is full (no late registrations, no exceptions).
Event Date: March 3, 2025
Location: Cross of Christ Lutheran Church, Bellevue
2025 Adjudicator: Dr. Meredith Arksey, Professor Emerita of Music, Washington State University
For questions please contact Jan Coleman, the competition chair or email smtaoffice@gmail.com.
2025 Registration is beyond capacity and is now closed. We thank you for your interest and hope to hear you next year!
Dr. Meredith Arksey
Dr. Meredith Arksey, Associate Professor Emeritus of Music at Washington State University in Pullman WA, was the coordinator of the string area and taught studio violin and viola to undergraduate and graduate string majors from 1995 until 2021. After studying with Kelly Farris, she received her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in violin performance from the University of Michigan where she was a student of Camilla Wicks, and a string pedagogy graduate teaching assistant under Robert Culver. She received her doctorate in Violin Performance from Michigan State University with I-Fu Wang. She performs frequently as a soloist and chamber musician, including Brahms’ Double Concerto with the Coeur d’Alene Symphony Orchestra and guest violinist and violist with the Spokane String Quartet. Since 1989 she has been a member of the Silver Bay String Quartet, a group that has a summer residency in New York State. She was also the violinist in the Palouse Trio. She is Past-President, and current board member of the Washington American String Teachers Association. She is an adjudicator for ASTACAP and WMEA, and has served as clinician at numerous competitions, master classes and festivals throughout the United States. Before joining the faculty at WSU, she was the Artist-in-Residence at Alma College, Alma Michigan, and spent her summers studying and performing at U.S. and European music festivals. She is a contributor to THE STRAD Online Magazine. Currently living in Spokane, she teaches violin and viola, continues to serve as co-concert master of the Washington-Idaho Symphony, and often performs with the Spokane Symphony.
Composition Division
Chair: Dr. Leann Osterkamp He
Registration Period: March 1, 2025 - March 24, 2025 (11:59 pm PT)
Winners Announced: April 30, 2025
Location: Online submissions
Rules/Guidelines:
Click here to view the 2025 Rules & Guidelines
Application:
Please make sure to pay the entrance fee AND register using the composition entrance form.
Simon-Fiset Composition accepts submissions from students in grades 1-12 grouped into four divisions. New composers are encouraged to enter! All submissions require a complete PDF score of the composition and recordings are strongly encouraged (live instruments or digital). Students may submit more than one composition but must submit a separate application and fee with each submission. See the rules & guidelines linked above for more information.
All entrants receive age-appropriate positive and constructive written feedback from the adjudicator. Submissions receiving first through third places will receive Visa gift cards. All students placing honorable mention or above will receive a certificate.
Contact the SMTA office for more information.
Dr. Jared Miller
Described as a “rising star” by MusicWorks magazine, JUNO-Nominated composer Jared Miller has collaborated with the American Composers Orchestra, the Nashville Symphony, the symphony orchestras of Vancouver, Toronto, Detroit and New Jersey, The Attacca Quartet, Latitude 49, the New York City Ballet’s Choreographic Institute and Standing Wave. His music has been presented in the New York Philharmonic Biennial, the ISCM World Music Days, Vancouver’s Queer Arts Festival and the Festival Internacional de Jóvenes Orquestas.
He is an Assistant Professor of Composition in the School of Music at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts.