Thank you to the 40 piano students from 12 area piano studios who participated in the sixth annual Des Moines Area Piano Festival on Sunday, February 23. The event was held at the Salisbury House & Gardens in Des Moines and presented by Mobile Music Lessons, with support from the Museum of Danish America, the Salisbury House & Gardens, and the West Music Piano Gallery.
The afternoon consisted of adjudication auditions, followed by a master class with Dr. Huang and a lecture seminar on memorization with Dr. Scott.
Dr. Mei-Hsuan Huang's master class performance was Chopin's Scherzo No. 4 in E Major, Op. 54 played by Gwenyth Franczyk. Key takeaways: 1. Listen to secondary phrases and 2. Listen to the space between the notes.
Dr. Marion Scott's seminar on "Building a Kevlar Memory - How to Practice for a Solid Performance" takeaways: 1. Learn over a period of time; 2. Learn phrase by phrase; 3. LH alone practice and memorization; and 4. Practice slowly and with care.
Congratulations to the winners of the 2025 Victor Borge Legacy Award, held in conjunction with the festival and adjudicated by Dr. Scott!
Timothy Lee received first-place of the 2025 Victor Borge Legacy Award with a $1,000 prize.
Laura Chen received second-place of the 2025 Victor Borge Legacy Award with a $500 prize.
Jonah Mittman, Vivian Zhang, Lynda Sun, and Isabelle Ryan received honorable mentions from our adjudicators.
We congratulate all of the participants, their families, and their teachers, and we look forward to the 2026 Festival! Follow #DSMPianoFestival on social media, the Festival Facebook and Instagram accounts, and our blog posts to stay tuned for next year's event, which will be on Sunday, February 22, 2026, once again at the Salisbury House & Gardens in Des Moines.
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