The competition was established in 2005 to provide an additional performance opportunity for talented pianists from Washington state. It runs concurrently with the Music Teachers National Association (MTNA) Performance Competitions, but is not part of the MTNA Performance Competitions. The Outstanding Artist Piano Competition (OAPC) may serve as a positive initial step for students desiring to compete in the MTNA Performance Competitions in future years. A teacher may not enter the same student in both the OAPC and MTNA Performance Competition in the same year. The OAPC is a state level competition with monetary awards.
2026 OAPC
November 6-8, 2026 at Central Washington University, Ellensburg, WA
Registration
Opens: August 10, 2026
Closes: September 9, 2026 at midnight Pacific (please note that after 6 pm Pacific on September 9, there will be no website form support available for the registration process)
Student Entry Fees
Junior Division: $100
Senior Division: $120
Teacher Fees
WSMTA teacher fees: $20 per student
Non-WSMTA teacher fees: $150 for the first student and $20 for each additional student
Questions? Contact Amora Bussey, OAPC Chair or the WSMTA Administrative Coordinator.
WSMTA is grateful for the generous support CWU Department of Music provides for this WSMTA program.
WSMTA is grateful for the support Tulalip Tribes provides for this WSMTA program with a generous grant in 2025.
What people said about the 2025 competition
“It was very beautifully organized and carried out on a high professional level.”
“The entire competition was exceptionally well organized. Every detail – from the clarity of the comment sheets to the smooth transitions between performers and the thoughtfully-timed breaks – was handled with such professionalism. Above all, there was a calm, positive energy throughout the event.”
“We appreciate how timely everything was and that there was someone guiding us through the process. The gift bag was also a very positive touch to encourage the student.”
“I do like a blind jury: music is an art of sound and sound is all that should matter.”
“As an adjudicator from Washington State who knows many of the teachers and has judged their student before, I appreciated that the competition was conducted behind a screen. It ensured complete anonymity – I had no idea whose students were performing, which effectively removed any bias… This was, without a doubt, one of the fairest competitions I’ve ever adjudicated.”
2026 OUTSTANDING ARTIST PIANO COMPETITION RESULTS
Results of the 2026 Outstanding Artist Piano Competition will be posted here during the competition on November 6-8, 2026.
JUNIOR
FIRST PLACE
SECOND PLACE
THIRD PLACE
HONORABLE MENTIONS (unranked)
BIPOC, Women, and Underrepresented Composers Prize
Winner
Honorable Mentions (unranked)
SENIOR DIVISION
FIRST PLACE
SECOND PLACE
THIRD PLACE
HONORABLE MENTIONS (unranked)
BIPOC, Women, and Underrepresented Composers Prize
Winner
Honorable Mentions (unranked)
BIPOC, Women and Underrepresented Composers Prize
Students registered in the Outstanding Artist Piano Competition have an option to use ONE of their repertoire pieces to be considered for the new BIPOC, Women and Underrepresented Composers Prize. Only one piece per student may be eligible for this new special prize. If a student’s program has more than one piece of repertoire in this category, ONLY ONE MAY BE LISTED for consideration (this choice is up to the student and teacher). Please note, regardless of the special prize, OAPC encourages teachers and students to explore varied repertoire and to learn many pieces by underrepresented composers. The registration form will require you to clearly designate your chosen repertoire piece, in order to be included in the list for the Judges to consider for this award.
Judges will choose ONE WINNER from each of our two Divisions (Junior and Senior). Teachers and students are encouraged to peruse the compiled list of eligible composers that will be on the WSMTA website linked to OAPC information. Students are not restricted to selecting a piece by a composer on this list or any of the other links referenced. However, if a piece is selected by a composer not on the list, please email Dr. Lark Powers, by JUNE 1 to have the composer approved. This step is required only for pieces by composers not yet appearing on the OAPC list.
WSMTA Leadership and the OAPC Judges are excited to hear inclusive performances and a broader range of representation. However, this is not a requirement to enter the competition and will not affect eligibility for the usual prizes and honorable mentions, but we hope participation in the BIPOC, Women and Underrepresented Composers Prize will be embraced by many!
There will be one winner per division. The monetary prize for the Junior Division winner is $150 and for the Senior Division winner it is $250. In addition, the 2025 Junior and Senior Winners of this new prize will be invited to perform in the WSMTA Winners Recital at our Annual Conference in June of 2026.
2026 Outstanding Artist Piano Competition Judges
Oksana Ejokina, NCTM • Fabio Menchetti, NCTM • Xiaohui Yang
Oksana Ejokina, NCTM
Pianist Oksana Ejokina appears frequently as guest recitalist, concerto soloist and chamber musician on concert series across the United States. Oksana has soloed with the St. Petersburg Chamber Philharmonic Orchestra in Russia, Seattle Symphony, Tacoma Symphony, Washington – Idaho Symphony, and performed in venues such as the Phillips Collection in Washington DC, Benaroya Hall, Davies Orchestra Hall and Klassik Keyifler Festival in Turkey. She has been featured on multiple live radio broadcasts on such stations as WFMT-Chicago, KUOW and KING FM in Seattle, and Maine Public Radio. Her collaborations have included concerts with the Seattle Chamber Players, Avalon String Quartet, violinist Ian Swensen and cellists Johannes Moser, David Requiro and Meta Weiss, among others. Oksana was awarded a Doctor of Musical Arts degree in piano performance from the Stony Brook University in 2004. She is the pianist of the Volta Piano Trio, whose recordings for Con Brio label received accolades in multiple international music magazines, such as The Strad, Gramophone and American Record Guide. Her other long-standing collaboration is the pianist Christina Dahl.
A sought-after teacher, she currently serves as Professor of Piano and Coordinator of Piano Studies at Pacific Lutheran University and is in demand as an adjudicator and master class teacher. Dr. Ejokina’s students have won top prizes in numerous state, national and international competitions, have participated in prestigious summer programs and have been accepted to top colleges and conservatories in the US to pursue their undergraduate and graduate studies. A committed arts educator, Oksana served as Artistic Director of the Chamber Music Festival and Institute at the Icicle Creek Center for the Arts and now directs T-Town Chamber Music Festival and Institute in Tacoma, where she resides.
Fabio Menchetti, NCTM
A native of Lucca, Italy, Fabio Menchetti serves as Associate Professor of Piano at Washington
State University, while maintaining an active performance career. He has performed in many
Italian cities as well as in Poland, France, and in Germany, where he gave a solo recital for the
2011 Liszt bicentenary celebrations in Bayreuth. He regularly concertizes throughout the United
States, both as a soloist and a chamber musician. For Sheva Collection he recorded Libro di
Canti Italiano, a set of solo piano pieces by English composer Peter Seabourne, and Novecento
Italiano, featuring music for violin and piano by Italian composers written between the two
world wars. He also recorded John Adams’ Grand Pianola Music with the CCM Wind Symphony
for Klavier Records. His latest releases include Crossroads (works for tuba and piano by living
composers), All Are Welcome (new works for bassoon, oboe, and piano), two albums with music
for bassoon and piano by Native American and Maori composers, and a CD featuring six works
for flute and piano by women composers. An active member of Music Teachers National
Association and College of Music Society, he is frequently invited to present at conferences. A
sought-after adjudicator and clinician, he is regularly requested for masterclasses at universities
and in private studios.
After completing his studies in Italy, he received graduate degrees from Houghton College and
University of Cincinnati. His primary teachers include Pier Narciso Masi, Enrico Stellini, Pietro
De Maria, Andrea Lucchesini, William John Newbrough, and Michael Chertock.
Xiaohui Yang
Chinese pianist XIAOHUI YANG, a winner of the 2017 Naumburg International Piano Competition, has been hailed by the press as a “tastefully polished musician” (Haaretz, Israel) and “a magician of sound and virtuosity” (La Libre, Belgium). She has been featured in performances throughout four continents, including in venues such as Carnegie Hall, Ozawa Hall, New Jersey Performing Arts Center, Tel Aviv Museum of Art and the Seoul Arts Center.
Ms. Yang has been a soloist with ensembles including the Louisiana Philharmonic, Milwaukee Symphony, New Jersey Symphony, Baltimore Chamber Orchestra, Acadiana Symphony, Curtis Symphony, Galveston Symphony, Brazilian Symphony, Minas Gerais Philharmonic Orchestra and Poland’s Capella Bydgostiensis. Solo and collaborative performances include recitals for Portland Piano International, Shriver Hall Concert Series (Baltimore), Union College Concert Series (Schenectady, NY), Dame Myra Hess Memorial Concerts (Chicago) and Caramoor Center for Music and the Arts (Katonah, NY).
A dedicated chamber musician, Ms. Yang has taken part in renowned North American festivals such as Marlboro, Tanglewood, Ravinia, Banff and Taos, and has performed with luminaries such as Peter Wiley, Charles Neidich, Roberto Diaz and the Dover String Quartet. Ms. Yang has been invited to perform on tours with Ravinia’s Steans Music Institute and Curtis on Tour at concert halls in the United States, Korea, and Greece. She is also a founding member of the Steans Piano Trio, alongside Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra violinist Eunice Kim and Boston Symphony Orchestra Assistant Principal cellist Oliver Aldort.
Ms. Yang is a graduate of Curtis Institute of Music, where she studied with Ignat Solzhenitsyn and was a recipient of the Festorazzi Prize for the best graduating piano student. She earned her master’s degree at The Juilliard School as a student of Robert McDonald, and her Doctor of Musical Arts degree at the Peabody Conservatory, under the tutelage of Boris Slutsky. Before moving to the United States, Ms. Yang studied at the Attached Music School of Shenyang Conservatory of Music with Danwen Wei, Xianwei Cheng and Rosemary Platt. Xiaohui Yang lives in Tacoma, WA, where she is faculty at the University of Puget Sound.