Judges and Procedure

The judging procedure for each round in the Regional Division will be a ranking system. Each of the three judges in the preliminary and live performance rounds will independently rank contestants without discussion among the judges. A Foundation director will total the scores and those contestants with the lowest scores will move to the next round or, in the case of the final round, receive first, second, and third place awards. If there is a tie that affects the outcome, the judges will confer only on the performances of the contestants involved in the tie and vote to break the tie.

All judges chosen for this division will reside outside of the five Rocky Mountain states. None of the preliminary judges are eligible to judge the live performance rounds in the same year. Only the audio portion and contestant number of each applicant's DVD submission will be sent to the three judges of the preliminary round.

In the UW Division, the UW keyboard faculty will select the contestants for the preliminary round. There will be one judge for both preliminary and final rounds.

Irish pianist Peter Mack has been thrilling audiences in Washington state since moving to America as an "alien of exceptional merit and ability" in 1985. He has also performed throughout the United States and Europe, as well as in Australia and the former Soviet Union. He is the winner of the New Orleans, Young Keyboard Artists and Pacific International Piano Competitions. His prize in the Sherman-Clay competition included a Steinway grand piano.

Peter Mack is well known for his extensive repertoire, having performed twenty-five concertos with orchestras. A choral scholar at Trinity College Dublin, and a Fellow of Trinity College London, he has a doctorate in piano performance from the University of Washington. Dr. Mack is equally in demand as a performer, clinician, convention artist, and teacher. Pupils of Peter Mack are frequent winners of local, national, and international competitions. He is Professor of Piano Performance at Cornish College of the Arts in Seattle. Peter Mack is a Steinway artist.

"Mack is one of those lucky ones, born with a completely balanced set of talents. He has perfect piano hands, his technique is all but infallible, he has boundless temperament, style and taste, and above all, he communicates directly.... In all capacities he is indefatigable...." --Los Angeles Times

Alvin Chow has appeared throughout North America and in Asia as orchestral soloist and recitalist. In addition, he has performed extensively in duo-piano recitals with his wife, Angela Cheng, and his twin brother, Alan. A native of Miami, Florida, he graduated as Co-Valedictorian at the University of Maryland, where he was a student of Nelita True. Mr. Chow received the Victor Herbert Prize in Piano upon graduation from the Juilliard School, where he studied with Sascha Gorodnitzki, and held the Joseph Battista Memorial Scholarship at Indiana University as a student of Menahem Pressler.

Mr. Chow has received top prizes in numerous competitions such as the University of Maryland International Piano Competition, the New York Piano Teachers Congress International Piano Competition, the MTNA Collegiate Artists Competition, the Civic Orchestra of Chicago Young Soloists Competition, and the National Symphony Young Soloists Competition.

Mr. Chow has performed in such major concert halls as the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., Orchestra Hall in Chicago, Weill and Steinway Halls in New York City, and the Mozarteum in Salzburg, Austria. Presented as soloist in such cities as Hong Kong, Los Angeles, Seattle, Denver, Detroit and Miami, Mr. Chow has appeared as soloist with the National Symphony Orchestra, Colorado Symphony Orchestra, Civic Orchestra of Chicago, Pan-Asia Symphony in Hong Kong, and the Mozarteum Orchestra in Salzburg, among others. He has been heard in national broadcasts on National Public Radio’s “Performance Today” and on CBC Radio in Canada.

Mr. Chow has presented masterclasses and lectures throughout the United States and abroad, including the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto, Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts, Taichung University in Taiwan, Colburn School in Los Angeles, Indiana University, University of Michigan, and Northwestern University among many others. During 1987-88 he was the first Fulbright College Visiting Artist in Piano at the University of Arkansas. Formerly a professor at Southwest Missouri State University and the University of Colorado at Boulder, he is currently on the artist faculty of the Oberlin Conservatory of Music.

Acclaimed pianist Kevin Robert Orr maintains an active performance schedule throughout the United States and abroad. Recent engagements in North America have taken him to California, Delaware, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi, New Mexico, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Texas, Quebec and Washington D.C.. He has toured China four times with engagements in the cities of Beijing, Chengdu, Kunming, Zhengzhou, and Deyang.

In the summer of 2004, he was Artist in Residence at the University of Wollongong, New South Wales, Australia. In May of 2007, Orr co-directed the First Annual Chinese-American International Piano Institute at the Sichuan Conservatory, Chengdu. More recently, in November of 2007, he performed two concerts in Seoul, South Korea. He has premiered and recorded solo and ensemble works by composers Jennifer Margaret Barker, Houston Dunleavy, Paul Richards, Robert Rollin, and John Weinsweig, The 2005 release of Jennifer Margaret Barker’s CD/DVD Geenyoch features Orr on the composer’s 2001 solo piano work, Geenyoch Ballant. His recent recording of Johannes Brahms' Sonata Opus 5 and Ballades Opus 10, released in January, 2007 on the Meyer-Media LLC label, has garnered international critical acclaim.

While focusing primarily upon classical performance and teaching, Dr. Orr also pursues interests in other musical styles, including improvisation. He studied at the Cleveland Institute of Music and at The Dana School of Music. He was the recipient of the William Kurzban Prize in Piano from the Cleveland Institute, and the Aurora Ragiani Martin Piano Award from The Dana School. His teachers have included Paul Schenly, Robert Elliot Hopkins, Caroline Oltmanns, Melva Huebert, and Doris Arnold Cunningham. Dr. Orr is Associate Professor of Piano at the University of Florida - School of Music.

Mary Tickner has a Master's Degree in Music from the University of Southern California where she was inducted into Pi Kappa Lamda National Honorary Society for Scholarship. She has served on the faculty of several universities and retired as a faculty member of the University of British Columbia's School of music where she taught piano and pedagogical studies.

Mrs. Tickner is in demand as an adjudicator and workshop clinician and is a member of the Canadian Federation of Music Adjudicators Association. She recently returned from India where she was one of the adjudicators for the first national MusicQuest Piano Festival-Workshop.

As well, she regularly evaluates new material for a major music publisher for pedagogical value. Mrs. Tickner's students have performed at the World Piano Pedagogy Conference and many have become established in universities or as independent teachers. At present, she is 1st Vice-President of the BCRMTA Vancouver branch and is coordinator for the "Pedagogy Forum" for the branch newsletter.

John Weems has established himself as an outstanding private studio teacher in the nation. He established a private teaching studio in Victoria, TX. from 1976-1982 and in Houston from 1982-present. His students have won the top awards in numerous major state and national competitions, including: the first prize in the 1997 Music Teachers National Association Baldwin Piano Competition; local, district, and state competitions sponsored by the Texas Music Teachers Association; the Texas and South Central Division MTNA Baldwin and Yamaha Awards (thirteen national finalists); numerous state, national and international contests sponsored by colleges and universities; and the prestigious Josie Tomforde Concerto Contest sponsored by the Houston Symphony Orchestra. In addition, his students have been chosen by audition to perform in numerous recitals and master classes including those of : Claude Frank, Leon Fleisher, Richard Goode, Constance Keene, John Perry, Bradford Gowen, André-Michel Schub, Lillian Kalir, Abbey Simon, Oxana Yablonskaya, Nelita True, John Browning, Ozan Marsh, Christopher Elton, Jerome Lowenthal, David Bar-Ilan, Anton Nel, Anton Kuerti, and others. His students have performed annually as concerto soloists with orchestras since 1983 in over two hundred performances, including the Interlochen Orchestra, the Houston Symphony, the Houston Civic Symphony, the Richardson Symphony, the University of Houston Orchestra, the Victoria Symphony, etc. Former students are now successful teachers and performers around the nation, including several under professional concert artist management.

In addition to teaching, Mr. Weems is very active as a clinician and adjudicator, and he has given numerous master classes and workshops around the state and nation. Mr. Weems has been a featured guest clinician at the state conventions of Texas, New York, Louisiana, Arkansas, New Mexico, Minnesota and South Carolina. He has been been a guest faculty member in numerous summer music programs including those of the Eastman School of Music, Cincinnati Conservatory of Music, Indiana University, Oberlin Conservatory of Music, Southwest Texas State University, and the Moores School of Music of the University of Houston. He has presented lectures at the 1994 MTNA national convention in Washington, D.C. and the 1997, 1998, and 2003 World Piano Pedagogy Conferences.

John Weems is a charter member of Forum Music Teachers Association in Houston, and has served as President, Vice-President, Student Affiliate Performance Contest Chairman, and Concerto Contest Chairman for that association. Also, Mr. Weems has served on the state TMTA board of directors.

In 1991 the Texas State Music Teachers Association awarded John Weems the Pre-College Teaching Excellence Award.

Jack Winerock, a native of NYC, received his undergraduate and masters degree at the Juilliard School of Music and his doctorate from the University of Michigan. His teachers included Sascha Gorodnitzki, Gyorgy Sandor, and Leon Fleisher. Following his graduation from Michigan, he accepted an appointment at the University of Kansas.

In 1976, Winerock received Second Prize in the International Bach Competition. That year he made his orchestral debut with the National Symphony Orchestra at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. In 1979 he made his New York debut at Alice Tully Hall in Lincoln Center. Since that time he has received yearly invitations to perform in Europe, Asia, and South America as well as in the United States. In 1986 he gave the first performance of Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue in the People’s Republic of China and in l988 performed for the first time in Japan. He has recorded the Sonatas of Alexander Reinagle for the Musical Heritage Society and the Concerto for Piano and Winds by Stravinski for Golden Crest Records.

Winerock has achieved national and international acclaim as a performer, teacher, and lecturer. His students have won prizes in national and international competitions, including Chopin Competition in Warsaw, the MTNA, and the Johanna Hodges. They hold important faculty positions both in the United States as well as in conservatories in Europe and Asia. In addition to his duties at the University of Kansas, he offers master classes annually in Asia, Europe, and South America. Following the adjudication in Wyoming, this summer he will teach at the St. Louis Symphony Innsbrook festival in June and at the International Institute for Young Musicians at KU in July.

Acclaimed throughout the South and Midwest, Jane Abbott-Kirk is in demand as soloist, collaborator, adjudicator, and clinician. She is professor of piano at Baylor University and has taught at the University of Kansas and Indiana University. In 1989 Jane Abbott-Kirk was awarded the Outstanding Tenured Teacher Award by Baylor University. In 2004 she was named the Collegiate Teacher of the Year by the Texas Music Teachers Association. She is also listed in Marquis Who's Who for 2004 and 2005. Many of her former students hold prestigious positions at universities, conservatories, and private teaching venues in this country and abroad. She is experienced in helping pianists prevent and recover from performance injuries and in building healthy technique that serves both virtuosity and interpretive sophistication.

Jane Abbott-Kirk, a native of Corpus Christi and San Antonio, Texas, began piano study with Robert Floyd at the age of three. At age eleven, she won the Corpus Christi Symphony Bach Contest. By seventeen, she had won contests sponsored by the National Federation of Music Clubs, Texas Music Teachers Association, and San Antonio Music Teachers Association. She also had performed with the San Antonio Symphony and Houston Symphony. While studying at Indiana University, she received enthusiastic reviews as the featured soloist on two mid-western orchestra tours, including the world premiere of Bernard Heiden's Triple Concerto.

A student of Sidney Foster and Menahem Pressler, she received a B.M., M.M., and the coveted Performer's Certificate from Indiana University. More recently, she has worked extensively with Edna Golandsky, former associate director of the Dorothy Taubman Institute and with Sheila Paige, director of the Piano Wellness Seminar. Her engagements over the span of several decades have included solo, collaborative, and orchestral performances throughout this country, Canada, and Austria. She is especially well known to music teachers' associations through her extensive presentations, workshops, and adjudications.

Jane Abbott-Kirk is a recording artist for the Musical Heritage Society and has received critical acclaim in Audio and Stereo Review. Her sensitive and inspired performances have provoked the highest accolades from the press.

Pianist Nan Shannon has been recognized for her versatility in both solo and collaborative performances. A dedicated performer of every aspect of the repertory, Ms. Shannon has especially distinguished herself as an interpreter of contemporary music. A past member of the Contemporary Music Forum in Washington, D.C., she played numerous works by living composers from around the world.

During recent seasons in Colorado Ms. Shannon gave a faculty solo recital at Regis University, and performed as a soloist with the Mercury Ensemble in Mozart’s Piano Concerto in C, K. 415. She joined members of the Front Range Chamber Players in Fort Collins for two concerts, and collaborated with the Colorado Chamber Players in two programs at the King Center in Denver. As a member of the new music ensemble Atomic Clock Music Events Ms. Shannon participated in a performance of Terry Riley’s In C at the Boulder Museum of Contemporary Art, and a concert of new trios at the Rocky Mountain Center for Musical Arts. She also served for three seasons as a pianist for the Colorado Symphony Chorus.

Ms. Shannon is currently on the faculties of Regis University and Metropolitan State College in Denver, and has served as a coach in the Young Chamber Players program for members of the Denver Young Artists Orchestra. She has served as an adjudicator for a variety of competitions, including MTNA events, the Young Musicians Foundation in Denver, and the Fort Collins Symphony competition. She is a doctoral graduate of the Peabody Conservatory, where she studied with Ann Schein, and earned her masters degree in accompanying from the University of Southern California.