The Memphis International Piano Festival and Competition exists to celebrate the piano through concerts, masterclasses, and competitive and non-competitive performance events. Students and music lovers of all ages are encouraged to attend and participate in events. Enjoy a weekend filled with concerts, masterclasses and other events!
SPONSORS:
FESTIVAL DIRECTORS + COORDINATORS
FESTIVAL JUDGES
Park has a wide breadth of experience as a collaborative pianist in chamber, symphonic, and contemporary music settings. She has performed recitals with many renowned artists, including violinists Joshua Bell and Andrew Dawes, cellists Shauna Rolston and Tsuyoshi Tsutsumi, bassist Edgar Meyer, flutists Paul Edmund Davies, Timothy Hutchins, and Tara Helen O’Connor, bassoonist Frank Morelli, saxophonist Nikita Zimin and Robert Young, horn artist Frøydis Ree Wekre, the percussion group NEXUS, soprano Mary Wilson, and tenor Telly Leung. She also appeared recently in concert with Grammy-award winning American songwriter, lyricist, and record producer Glen Ballard.
She is Principal Piano and Celeste with the Memphis Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Robert Moody, a position she has held since 2004. As a featured soloist with MSO's Masterworks Series, she performed Doreen Carwithen's Concerto for Piano and Strings and Francis Poulenc's Concerto for Two Pianos and Orchestra. In addition to their symphonic series, the MSO performs frequently with Opera Memphis, Ballet Memphis, New Ballet Ensemble, and Collage Dance Collective.
As a longstanding member of the music faculty at the University of Mississippi since 2001, Adrienne is currently Assistant Professor of Collaborative Piano. She coordinates the Collaborative Piano area and performs regularly with music faculty and guest artists. In 2013, she launched her own series, Sonic Explorations, which highlights music faculty and professional musicians in the region. She mentors the graduate collaborative piano students, coaches chamber ensembles, and collaborates with music students. She designed the curriculum for Keyboard Musicianship, a required course for music majors.
Since 2004, Adrienne has performed with the Memphis Chamber Music Society, which presents concerts in landmark homes and art galleries in Memphis, featuring gifted local musicians and internationally known artists. At Crosstown Arts, a newly established contemporary arts center in Memphis, Adrienne performs with Blueshift Ensemble and recently with the Mahogany Chamber Series, curated by Artina McCain, which spotlights underrepresented composers and performers.
For six years at the Banff Centre for the Arts, she was the faculty collaborative pianist for both the fall and winter residencies. For several summers, she was a faculty collaborative pianist for the string and woodwind masterclasses. While at Banff, she had the privilege of working closely with Isobel Moore Rolston and Tom Rolston.
Adrienne’s private students have been recognized for state honors as part of the Mississippi Music Teachers' Association. One of her students repeatedly won the Music Teachers' National Association Composition Competition for the State of Mississippi (2015-2021) and the Southern Division (2016-2018).
Adrienne studied with Abbey Simon and Ruth Tomfohrde at the University of Houston and with Robert Silverman at the University of British Columbia.
Grace Fong is a prize-winning American pianist with an international career as a concerto soloist, recitalist, chamber musician, and contemporary keyboardist. Praised as "positively magical" (Cleveland Plain Dealer), and "immediately a revelation" (Arizona Central), Fong has gained critical acclaim in the United States, Canada, Europe, United Arab Emirates and Asia. She has been featured at major venues including Weill Hall at Carnegie Hall; the Kennedy Center; Musco Center for the Arts; Phillips Collection; the Hollywood Bowl; Great Hall in Leeds, UK; Reinberger Hall at Severance Hall; the Liszt Academy in Budapest; Konzerthaus Dortmund in Germany; and the National Center for Performing Arts, Beijing. Radio and television performances have included the British Broadcasting Company, "Performance Today" on National Public Radio, WFMT “Live from Chicago,” WCLV-FM Cleveland, KUSC Los Angeles, and the "Emerging Young Artists" series in New York. She has performed as soloist with the Mariinsky Theater Orchestra under Valery Gergiev, the Halle Orchestra in the United Kingdom under Mark Elder, the Polish Chamber Orchestra under Wojcec Rajski, the Indianapolis Chamber Orchestra, the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra, the Phoenix Symphony, Pacific Symphony, and Music Academy of the West Festival Orchestra, among others.
Described by one critic as possessing “technical brilliance, infectious energy and sheer enjoyment of music making” (BC News), Fong is a gold-medalist and prizewinner of numerous international competitions, including the prestigious Leeds in the United Kingdom, International Liszt, Cleveland International, Bosendorfer International, San Antonio International, Viardo International, Wideman International, and Music Academy of the West Concerto Competition.
Special prizes have included “Best Performances” Prizes of Baroque, Classical, and Contemporary works, as well as the “Jury’s Selection” Prize. Fong is also the winner of one of America's most prestigious piano awards, the Christel DeHaan Classical Fellowship of the American Pianists Association (the first female winner in 12 years). She also won the Grand Prize in piano from the National Foundation for the Advancement of the Arts and thereafter was named a "Presidential Scholar in the Arts,’” for which she was awarded a performance at the Kennedy Center and presented with a medallion by the President of the United States at the White House.
Born in Los Angeles, Fong was a Trustee (full) Scholarship recipient at the University of Southern California where she completed a double major and minor.
Hailed by Gramophone for her ‘characterful sparkle’, Jasmin Arakawa has performed widely in North America, Central and South America, Europe, China and Japan. A prizewinner of the Jean Françaix International Music Competition, she has been heard at Carnegie Hall, Salle Gaveau in Paris and Victoria Hall in Geneva, as well as in broadcasts of the ABC Australia, BBC, PBS and Radio France. She has appeared as a concerto soloist with the Philips Symfonie Orkest in Amsterdam, Orquestra Sinfonica de Piracicaba in Brazil, and numerous orchestras in the United States and her native Japan. Other performance highlights include guest artist appearances at the Toronto Summer Festival, Ribadeo International Music Festival in Spain, Bicentenaire de Chopin in Switzerland, Scotiabank Northern Lights Music Festival in Mexico, Festival de Música de Cámara in Peru, Festival Internacional de Música Erudita de Piracicaba in Brazil, Dame Myra Hess Memorial Concert Series, Fazioli Piano Pure Series in Chicago and Distinguished Concerts International New York. Arakawa released her debut solo album Klavierabend on MSR Classics to critical acclaim, praised by American Record Guide for her ‘rich lyricism’ and ‘supreme clarity’.
She has a special interest in Spanish repertoire, which grew out of a series of lessons with Alicia de Larrocha. As a prizewinner of the Competition in the Performance of Music from Spain and Latin America and under the sponsorship of the Spanish Embassy, she subsequently recorded solo and chamber pieces by Spanish and Latin American composers.
Jasmin Arakawa is a graduate of Tokyo University of the Arts. She holds Doctor of Music and Master of Music degrees in Piano Performance from Indiana University Jacobs School of Music, where she studied with Emile Naoumoff, the last protégé of Nadia Boulanger. A recipient of the 2016 Steinway Top Teacher Award, Arakawa has given master classes at China Conservatory of Music in Beijing, Conservatorio Nacional de Música in Peru, Instituto Baccarelli in Brazil, and numerous universities in North America and Europe. A sought-after adjudicator, Arakawa has served on the juries of international and national competitions, including the International Chopin Piano Competition for Latin American Pianists (Peru), New Orleans Piano Institute Competition (USA), and Beethoven International Piano Competition ASIA (Japan). Jasmin Arakawa is Associate Professor of Piano and Piano Area Coordinator at the University of Florida, UF Research Foundation Professor (2023-2025), and Director of the UF International Piano Festival.
2025 MIPFC
November 8, 2025
Registration: September 2 – October 5
Contestants may choose to participate on a non-competitive basis in any category.
All participants, regardless of competitive status, will receive adjudicator comments sheet.Blossoming Beginners (Ages 4–7)
- Format: In person
- Awards: Participation Certificates
- Repertoire Requirements:
- Free choice of pieces from at least two contrasting musical periods
- May include non-competitive duets with a partner (not a teacher or parent)
Time Limit: 3 minutesBright Juniors (Ages 7–10)
- Format: In person
- Awards:
- First Prize: $100 AMRO Gift Card
- Certificates for Second and Third Prize winners
- Repertoire Requirements:
- Free choice of pieces from at least two contrasting musical periods
- Time Limit: 5 minutes
Young Stars (Ages 11–14)
- Format: In person
- Awards:
- First Prize: $100 cash + $100 AMRO Gift Card
- Second Prize: $100 cash
- Third Prize: $50 cash
- Honorable Mentions at judges’ discretion
- Repertoire Requirements:
- Free choice of pieces from at least two contrasting musical periods
- Time Limit: 10 minutes
Young Artists (Ages 15–18)
- Format: In person
- Awards:
- First Prize: $300 cash + $100 AMRO Gift Card
- Second Prize: $200 cash
- Third Prize: $100 cash
- Honorable Mentions at judges’ discretion
- Repertoire Requirements:
- Free choice of pieces from at least two contrasting musical periods
- Time Limit: 15 minutes
Collegiate Artists (Ages 18+)
Format: In person (Prescreening required)
- Contestants must submit a prescreening video with their registration form
- Up to 14 finalists will be invited to advance to the live round. Finalist will be announced by October 8th 2025.
Awards:
- First Prize: $1,000 cash
- Second Prize: $500 cash
- Third Prize and Honorable Mentions at judges’ discretion
Prescreening Video Requirements:
- One unedited, single-take video (10 minutes) of free choice repertoire
- Must be recorded within one year of the competition date
- Video may include pieces intended for the live round
- Upload the video to YouTube and set it as Public or Unlisted (Private videos cannot be viewed by judges)
- The video link must be included in the registration form at the time of submission
Live Round Repertoire Requirements:
- Free choice of pieces from at least two contrasting musical periods
Time Limit: 20 minutes
- All live performances will be held at the Rudi E. Scheidt School of Music at the University of Memphis, 3775 Central Ave., Memphis, TN 38111.
- Final deadline for completed entries: October 5th, 2025. 11:59pm CST
- Collegiate competitors accepted to the live round will be announced by October 8th 2025.
- Competition date - Saturday November 8th, 2025
- Performances may exceed limit but will be stopped when time is up (this will not affect scoring)
- Memorization is required unless the piece was composed after 1955. Non-competitive entrants are not required to memorize their pieces
- Ages will be calculated based on the day of competition. In the exceptional cases of an 18 year-old attending high-school (or equivalent), or a 17-year-old attending college, they may choose which Competition they prefer to enter.
Applicants for the Collegiate Artists category should be aged 18 as of the day of the competition, except for cases that fall under the previous exception. Students must be enrolled as a full-time student in a College, University or Conservatory in order to compete. Students should bring a Student ID, teacher verification, or a recent transcript when they check in.- Detailed repertoire information is required - movement numbers, titles of movements and exact timings. Contestants should bring purchased, clean scores for the judges, except for public domain pieces. For programs over the allocated time, judges will ask for portions of the repertoire at their discretion. No changes in the repertoire are allowed after the final deadline for completed entries listed above. Blossoming Beginners, Bright Juniors and Young Stars may also enter duet repertoire (from the above musical periods) with partners who are not their primary teacher or parent. Duets are non-competitive only.
- Exceptional performances will be nominated to perform in a masterclass during the festival or a later date at the Rudi E. Scheidt School of Music.
- Winners agree to the use of their photographic image to be used in social media and website content related to the competition and the University of Memphis Rudi E. Scheidt School of Music unless otherwise expressed.
Registration opens September 1st, 2025
- Final deadline for completed entries: October 5th, 2025. 11:59pm CST
- Competition date - Saturday November 8th, 2025
- Contestants and allocated performance times may be limited. Please register early. No late applications are accepted.
- Student and teacher names and contact information are required at the online registration.
- A valid credit or debit card is required for online registration fee - fees must be received by the final deadline for completed entries.
- $100 Collegiate category
- $50 for all other categories
