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!
Piano Division
Performance space at Chamber Music Society
The Simon-Fiset Piano Division is supported by a generous gift from Willard Schultz.
Chair: Dr. Leann Osterkamp He
Event Dates: February 7 - 8, 2026
Location: Seattle Chamber Music Society
Registration:
January 5 - January 16 (10:00 pm PT no exceptions)*
*registration may close earlier if applicant capacity is reached prior to the end of the registration window
Contestants will be notified of their scheduled time at least two weeks prior to the event (if not earlier). Venue constraints and issues of equity/fairness prohibit any scheduling requests from contestants/teachers.
Guidelines:
Please make sure to thoroughly read this year’s new guidelines, to make sure your family is aware of all new updates and policies. Thank you-
Click to download 2026 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.
SMTA is happy and proud to present the annual Simon-Fiset Piano Competition, which is scheduled for February 7-8, 2026. 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.
Registration and other details with be released as available. Please reach out to Dr. Leann Osterkamp He, SMTA’s Administrative Coordinator and Simon-Fiset Piano Competition Chair at simonfisetpiano@gmail.com.
2026 Adjudicators
Dr. Michael Bukhman
Passionate about collaboration and chamber music, award-winning pianist Michael Bukhman is active internationally as a chamber musician, adjudicator, and pedagogue. In 2022 he participated in the inaugural concerts of the Van Cliburn Concert Hall at TCU, performing Messiaen’s Quartet for the End of Time and the world premiere of Ascendant Grooves for two pianos and Reveries for cello and piano by TCU composer Till MacIvor Meyn. Working with musicians from the Dallas and Fort Worth symphony orchestras, Bukhman has been featured in the Spectrum Chamber Music Series as well as the Chamber Music Society of Fort Worth. Recent performances include premieres at the International Clarinet Association’s ClarinetFest 2022 in Reno, NV with the Painted Sky Ensemble. The group has premiered two additional trios in Fall 2022 by composers Teresa Martin and Chia-Yu Hsu in Estonia and Poland. In commemoration of Beethoven’s 250th anniversary in 2020, Bukhman performed the Triple Concerto with the TCU Symphony Orchestra under maestro Germán Gutiérrez, with cellist Jesús Castro-Balbi and violinist Elisabeth Adkins. In Fall 2020, Bukhman was invited to the Oberlin Conservatory for a virtual Beethoven celebration in a solo sonata performance as part of a marathon Beethoven piano sonata project. His 2013 performance with violinist Itzhak Perlman in Sarasota, Florida, was lauded for its “brilliant playing” and having “pushed the audience to the edge of frenzy” (Herald-Tribune). In June of 2016 Bukhman performed a duo recital with Grammy award-winning violist Kim Kashkashian to great acclaim at the American Viola Society Festival in Oberlin, OH. He has also collaborated with Nobuko Imai, Donald Weilerstein, Roger Tapping, Julia Bullock, Dawn Upshaw, the Attacca Quartet, Rebecca Ringle, Peter Frankl, and many others. Recent international tours include violin-piano performances in four Chinese cities with masterclasses taught across China and Taiwan, and previous performances across Japan.
Currently Assistant Professor of Collaborative Piano and Chamber Music at Texas Christian University in Fort Worth, TX, Bukhman established a local chapter for Music for Food—an international community outreach program, generating thousands of dollars to benefit the Tarrant Area Food Bank. Prior to his appointment to TCU, Bukhman served as Guest Artist-in-Residence at the Oberlin Conservatory (2017) and on the staff and pre-college faculty of the New England Conservatory in Boston, MA, to which he returned in summer 2022 as a collaborative piano faculty member at Morningside Music Bridge International Festival. Other music festival appearances include PianoTexas, the Oklahoma Summer Arts Institute, the Heifetz Institute, Yellow Barn Music Festival, The Perlman Music Program, and the Ojai Music Festival. Bukhman previously also taught at Bard and Vassar Colleges. While at Bard, Bukhman founded Play/Chat@Bard, a concert series showcasing young musicians in performance with informal conversation.
In summer 2022 Bukhman was appointed as Collaborative Arts Chair for the Texas Music Teachers Association (TMTA), a three-year term. He is also an active member of the International Keyboard Collaborative Arts Society (IKCAS) and has successfully presented on several occasions at the Music Teachers National Association’s (MTNA) National Conference.
Bukhman attended the Oberlin Conservatory of Music as a student of Robert Shannon, where he became the first in that institution’s history to graduate with Honors in Piano Performance. As part of his Honors project, Bukhman recorded the complete 24 Preludes and Fugues of Shostakovich, performing ten of them on one recital. He holds MM and DMA degrees from The Juilliard School, where he studied with Robert McDonald. An award-winning pianist, Bukhman’s accolades include: medalist in the 2009 Hilton Head International Piano Competition; top-ranked winner of the 2005 Jacob K. Javits Fellowship; first-prize winner at the 2006 Corpus Christi International Competition for Piano and Strings; and laureate of the 2006 Gina Bachauer Competition at the Juilliard School.
Dr. Ursula Oppens
Widely admired for her original and perceptive readings of new music and the standard repertoire, Ursula Oppens has premiered and/or commissioned works by John Adams, Luciano Berio, Carla Bley, Anthony Braxton, Elliott Carter, John Corigliano, Anthony Davis, Julius Hemphill, John Harbison, Laura Kaminsky, György Ligeti,
Witold Lutosławski, Conlon Nancarrow, Tobias Picker, Charles Wuorinen, and many more.
With five Grammy nominations to her credit, Ms. Oppens established her reputation early on with a classic recording of Frederic Rzewski’s The People United Will Never Be Defeated. She has released Piano Songs, music by Meredith Monk, with pianist Bruce Brubaker; Winging It: Piano Music of John Corigliano; Oppens Plays Carter (complete Carter piano works); Piano Music of Our Time; Keys to the City, (complete Picker piano music); and, with pianist Jerome Lowenthal, Visions de l’Amen by Messiaen and Debussy’s En blanc et noir.
As guest soloist, Ms. Oppens has performed with the New York Philharmonic, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Berlin Symphony, and London Philharmonic Orchestras, among others, and has collaborated with the Arditti, Cassatt, Juilliard, and Pacifica quartets.
In addition to The People United Will Never be Defeated and Friendship, Mr. Rzewski wrote the following pieces for Ms. Oppens: Four Pieces for Piano, Mayn Yingele, the two-piano version of The Winnsboro Cotton Mill Blues, Moonrise with Memories, and A Machine.
Ms. Oppens teaches at Mannes College, and is a Distinguished Professor of Music at Brooklyn College and the CUNY Graduate Center in New York City. In 2019, Ms. Oppens was awarded an Honorary Doctorate from The New England Conservatory.
Low Strings Division
Thank you to all who participated in the 2025 Low Strings Competition. Results are posted here.
Chair: Haeyoon Krentz
Event Date: TBD
Registration: TBD
Location: TBD
2026 Adjudicator: TBD
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.
High Strings Division
Thank you to all who participated in the 2025 competition. Results are here.
Chair: Jan Coleman
Event Date: TBD
Registration Dates: TBD
Location: TBD
2026 Adjudicator: TBD
For questions please contact Jan Coleman, the competition chair or email smtaoffice@gmail.com.
Composition Division
Thank you to all who competed in the 2025 competition. Results can be found here.
Chair: Peter Mack, NCTM
Registration Period: TBD
Winners Announced: TBD
Location: Online submissions
Rules/Guidelines:
Click here to view the 2025 Rules & Guidelines
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 a cash award. All students placing honorable mention or above will receive a certificate.
Contact the SMTA office for more information.