gene Marcus Piano competition

First-round auditions: Saturday, January 25, and Sunday, January 26, 2025 (or by video submission)

Final round: Sunday, February 9, 2025

Application deadline: Thursday, January 9, 2025

Winners Recital and Awards Ceremony: Sunday, February 9, 2025, 6:30 p.m.

A. Eligibility

• The competition is open to all precollege piano students, ages 18 and under as of February 9, 2025, who reside within 100 miles of Fort Wayne.
• All applicants must have been studying with their current teachers for at least six of the nine consecutive months immediately before February 9, 2025.
• Previous first-prize winners may not reenter at the same division and may enter at a higher division only if age requirements are met.
• Contestants in all divisions must pass the first-round auditions to compete in the final round of the competition.

B. General Rules for All Divisions and Repertoire Requirements

• All performances are to be from memory and must stay within the following time guidelines:
  • Elementary Division (ages 9 and under): 5 minutes
  • Intermediate Division (ages 10–12): 8 minutes
  • Junior Division (ages 13–15): 12 minutes
  • Senior Division (ages 16–18): 15 minutes
  • (Note that minutes indicated are the maximum overall performance time, inclusive of repeats. However, time between pieces will not count. The jury reserves the right to stop a performance if it exceeds the time limit for the respective division. While no minimum performance time is required, the chosen program must be representative for its age division and demonstrate variety of style, tempo, and character.)
• Repertoire previously performed in this competition may not be repeated by the same contestant.
• Only complete, unabridged solo piano works in the original form and key will be accepted; no concertos or arrangements may be used. Individual movements of multimovement works that can be performed as musical units are permitted. Repeats are left to the discretion of the entrant/teacher, but cuts are not permitted.  
• For all divisions, contestants are to perform two or more contrasting works from two or more of the following musical periods:
  • Baroque and earlier
  • Classical
  • Romantic
  • Impressionistic
  • 20th/21st Century
• First-round auditions will take place on Saturday, January 25, or Sunday, January 26, 2025. Contestants may choose to perform their program at that time (individual times will be assigned on one of the two dates) or may submit a video recording of their competition program for review, to be received no later than Wednesday, January 22, 2025. Video recordings must be submitted via YouTube or other online link (see application form for further details). Results of the first-round auditions will be sent via email by 5 p.m. on Tuesday, January 28, 2025. Those selected to compete in the final round will perform on Sunday, February 9, 2025. All live performances will take place at the Purdue University Fort Wayne Music Center.
• Contestants may perform their program in their preferred order; the same program presented at the first-round auditions must be performed in the final round.

C. Application Procedures and Additional Regulations

• Fees for each division:
  • Elementary: $25
  • Intermediate: $30
  • Junior: $35
  • Senior: $40

*Fees are non-refundable.

• Once an application is submitted, students, teachers, and parents agree to abide by the rules and regulations as stated on this website. Failure to comply will result in disqualification and will make the entrant ineligible to receive any recognition or monetary award.
• Contact us at [email protected] prior to submission of the application with any questions regarding the appropriateness of chosen repertoire. No repertoire changes will be permitted once the application is submitted. Teachers are requested to verify that the repertoire is listed correctly before submission of the application.
• Late applications will not be considered.
• The Competition Committee will determine all schedules. It is the responsibility of the entrant to be available for the published dates of the competition.
• By entering this competition, you agree to abide by all Federal Copyright Laws.  For live rounds, entrants are to provide to the competition jury a single hard copy score (original preferred) for each work to be performed.  Photocopies are strongly discouraged but may be used, if necessary, provided they are legal. Measures are to be numbered at the beginning of each system. If submitting a video for first-round auditions, entrants must submit scanned scores for all pieces. Each piece should be submitted as one file and measures must be numbered at the beginning of each system.
• Applicants may not reveal their names or their teachers’ names to the Final Round Adjudication Panel until winners are announced. Students of final-round judges may not enter the competition.
• The jury reserves the right to declare no winner, or fewer than three winners, in any division as it deems appropriate. The jury’s decision is final and may not be challenged by anyone, including the Competition Committee.
• First, second, and third place winners are required to perform at the winners recital on Sunday, February 9, at 6:30 p.m. in order to receive their prizes and monetary awards.
• Competition performances, including the winners recital, are open to the public.
• Photography is not permitted during performances.
• The final round of the competition may be recorded and videotaped for broadcast, video or audio recording use. It is anticipated that the winners recital will be made available on the internet. In addition, camera crews may photograph all competition events. Neither the Purdue University Fort Wayne Gene Marcus Piano Competition nor its assignees or licensees may be held liable for any payments to pianists arising out of materials derived from competition performances. Applicants are required to sign a release form yielding all rights on such materials.
  
  D. Application
  • Application has closed.
  • Pay fee. Link to pay is in application process.

Application Deadline
Thursday, January 9, 2025

First-Round Auditions
Saturday, January 25, and Sunday, January 26, 2025 (times to be assigned in one of those days; contestants will be able to indicate conflicts they may have on these days in the application form) or by video submission. See application for more details on either option.

Final Round
Sunday, February 9, 2025
The competition final round typically runs from 9:30 a.m. until 4:30 p.m.  The schedule will be determined according to the number of finalists in each division.

Winners Recital
Sunday, February 9, 2025, 6:30 p.m.

First Round Judges

The competition first round is adjudicated by Purdue University Fort Wayne piano faculty. All contestants will receive written feedback from each adjudicator, to be sent by email following the first round auditions.

Since his debut with the São Paulo State Symphony Orchestra (OSESP), pianist Hamilton Tescarollo has performed as both soloist and collaborative artist in the United States, Canada, Europe, and South America. Recent performances have taken him to concert venues in Argentina, Austria, Brazil, Croatia, France, Germany, Hungary, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, and multiple US states. He has appeared in international music festivals such as Orford (Canada), Eleazar de Carvalho (Fortaleza, Brazil), Cascais (Portugal), Saarburg (Germany), Bratislava (Slovakia), and Ljubljana Old Town (Slovenia). In March 2016, he performed George Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue at Carnegie Hall’s Isaac Stern Auditorium. A versatile musician who performs both the mainstream and the avant-garde repertory, he frequently includes the music of Brazil and other Latin-American countries in his programs.

Also an active recording artist, he is featured in three published CD’s. With clarinetist Jorge Montilla (Professor of Clarinet at The University of Iowa and former Principal Clarinet of the Simon Bolivar Orchestra in Venezuela), he recorded the CD “La Revoltosa,” featuring contemporary works by composers of both North and South America for clarinet and piano (Clarinet Classics). He also appears in two CDs with Purdue Fort Wayne colleague Farrell Vernon (Centaur Records), containing works for sopranino saxophone and piano as well as larger ensembles involving these two instruments.

Tescarollo was awarded the top prizes at the OSESP Young Soloists’ National Competition and the Escola Municipal de Música de São Paulo’s piano competition and was one of three finalists at the 1991 National Mozart Competition in Brazil. Other distinctions include sponsorships by the Secretary of Culture of the State of São Paulo, the Vitae Foundation, the Arizona Community Foundation, and Arizona State University. A dedicated teacher, he received “Teacher of the Year” awards from the Indiana Music Teachers Association (2015) and the Schimmel-AZ Piano Young Artist Piano Competition (2001), as well as the “Top Music Teacher” award from Steinway & Sons (2016 and 2017). His own students have been prizewinners of many piano contests, including the Phoenix Symphony Guild Concerto Competition, Indianapolis Symphony Young Musicians Competition, Sewannee Summer Music Center Concerto Competition, Indiana Hoosier Auditions, and MTNA Competitions, among others. They also have been awarded numerous scholarships and grants to attend summer programs, such as Interlochen, Brevard, Idylwild, Adamant, Sewannee, and Saarburg (Germany), and have been accepted for graduate study at prestigious institutions such as the Manhattan School of Music, Peabody Institute, and the University of Michigan.
Tescarollo serves as Professor of Music and Director of Keyboard Studies at Purdue University Fort Wayne. In this capacity, he teaches applied piano and piano-related courses and coordinates the keyboard area. He also teaches both young and professional pianists through the PFW Community Arts Academy and serves as piano faculty at the Interlochen Arts Camp in the summer. He has previously held teaching positions at Faculdade Santa Marcelina, The Municipal School of Music of São Paulo, and Arizona State University, and has also taught at the Saarburg Serenaden International Music Festival in Germany. In addition, he directs the Gene Marcus Piano Competition and Gene Marcus Piano Camp and Festival, presents piano master classes both nationally and internationally, and is a frequent lecturer and competition adjudicator.
Dr. Tescarollo holds Piano Performance degrees from Arizona State University (D.M.A. and M.M.), Faculdade Santa Marcelina (B.M.), and Escola Municipal de Música de São Paulo (Diploma). His main teachers were Gilberto Tinetti (a pupil of Tagliaferro, Cortot, and Wuehrer) and Caio Pagano (also a pupil of Tagliaferro, as well as of Conrad Hansen and Carl Engel). He has also studied with Robert Hamilton, Sandra Abrão and Paulo Bergamo, and has coached with Menahem Pressler, Paul Badura-Skoda, Lazar Berman, Barbara Hesse-Bukowska, and Maria João Pires, among others.

Education
D.M.A. Arizona State University
M.M. Arizona State University
B.M. Faculdade Santa Marcelina

Dr. Jonathan Young is an active pianist, composer, teacher, conductor, and accompanist. He earned a Doctor of Musical Arts degree in piano performance at the University of Kansas, studying with Dr. Steven Spooner. Career highlights include advancing to the final round of the American Prize for Solo Piano - Professional Division in 2021, the establishment of the American Liszt Society's Northern Indiana Chapter, working as coach/accompanist at Opera in the Ozarks in Summer 2018, attending the Bel Canto Summer Academy in Germany as a collaborative pianist in 2016, and performing solo piano at Haydn’s Esterhazy Palace in Austria through the Classical Music Festival in 2013. In concerto performances, Dr. Young has performed Mozart's Piano Concerto in C Minor with the Wheaton College Symphony Orchestra and Mozart's Piano Concerto in D Minor with the Inspiration Point Fine Arts Colony Orchestra. He is an avid performer of chamber music, vocal, instrumental, and choral music. Dr. Young received his master’s degree from University of Missouri Kansas City with Dr. Robert Weirich and bachelor’s degree from Wheaton College with Dr. Karin Redekopp Edwards. He also served as vice president of KU’s Collegiate Chapter of MTNA, and reviews books for the American Music Teacher magazine. Jonathan currently serves as Lecturer of Piano at Purdue University - Fort Wayne and maintains an active piano studio at the Community Arts Academy.

Education
B.M. Wheaton College
M.M. University of Missouri
D.M.A. University of Kansas

Final Round Judges

The competition final round is adjudicated by a panel of nationally and internationally renowned pianists and teachers. All finalists will receive written feedback from each adjudicator immediately following the conclusion of their respective division. Visit the competition archives page for listings of previous years’ judges.

Final Round Judges

The final round of the competition is adjudicated by expert piano performance faculty from across the tri-state area. All contestants will receive written feedback from each adjudicator, to be sent by email following the final round.

Ji-Hyang Gwak
A prizewinner of numerous competitions, pianist Ji-Hyang Gwak has garnered international praise for her versatility, energy, and technical mastery. As a performing solo artist, chamber musician, and pedagogue, she made appearances across the United States, in Czech, England, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Japan, and Korea.

Dr. Gwak is the top prize winner of the Sicily International Piano Competition, Seattle International Piano Competition, Franz Liszt International Piano Competition – Ohio, High Point University Piano Competition, and the Michigan MTNA Young Artist Piano Competition. She also won awards in the Lyon International Music Competition in France, the 39th Joongang Music Concours, the Korea-Germany Brahms Associations Concours, and was a semi-finalist at the Concours Musical International de Montréal, Seoul International Piano Competition, the Olga Kern International Piano Competition, and the Ricard Viñes International Piano Competition. Dr. Gwak is the recipient of The MFMC Rosamond P. Haeberle Memorial Piano Award and the Doreen Wessel Taylor Piano Award. She was selected to participate in summer festivals, including the CCM Prague Festival in Czech, the Sicily Piano Festival in Italy, UFIPF (University of Florida International Piano Festival) in Gainesville, and PianoTexas in Fort Worth.

​She has performed in concerts and recitals at various venues: Yamaha Salon in New York, Salle Molière in France, Palffy Palace in Prague, PepsiCo Recital Hall in Fort Worth, Benaroya Hall in Seattle, Chiostro di Campitelli al Teatro di Marcello, Sala Sciabica, Palazzo Spadaro, and Museo Diocesano in Italy, Mozart Hall, Sejong Chamber Hall, and Jungam Art Hall in Korea, Hill Auditorium, Kerrytown Concert House, The Heritage Museum and Cultural Center in Michigan, Coastal Carolina University, University of Florida, University of Indianapolis, Concordia College in Minnesota, and Ohio State University, among many others. Dr. Gwak made her orchestral debut at 15 with the Bucheon Chamber Orchestra at Jancheon Art Hall in Seoul. In 2014, she was the winner of the Eastman School of Music Concerto Competition, allowing her to perform Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No. 2 with the Eastman Philharmonia under the baton of Maestro Neil Varon in the historical concert venue, 2400 seats Kodak Hall, Rochester. She has also appeared as a soloist with the Ann Arbor Symphony Orchestra at Hill Auditorium and the Dexter Community Orchestra at Dexter Center for the Performing Arts. Dr. Gwak has performed in masterclasses and had lessons with world-renowned artists, including Philippe Bianconi, İdil Biret, Yoheved Kaplinsky, Vadim Monastyrski, Yoshikazu Nagai, Elisabeth Pridonoff, Gustavo Romero, Jacques Rouvier, Peter Serkin, Daniel Shapiro, Sasha Starcevich, and Asaf Zohar. 

​Dr. Gwak holds a Bachelor of Music in piano performance, summa cum laude, from Seoul National University and a Master of Music in piano performance and literature from Eastman School of Music. Her teachers include Kyungrok Park, Jinson Kim, Prof. Hie-Yon Choi, and Prof. Natalya Antonova. She earned a Doctor of Musical Arts in piano performance and recently completed her Specialist degree in 2022 at the University of Michigan under the tutelage of Prof. Christopher Harding, with the Earl V. Moore Award, the School of Music · Theatre & Dance department's top graduation honor.

​She is deeply passionate about sharing the joy of classical music and is especially interested in promoting classical music in the digital age, which led her to give performances in community venues and schools to seek new audiences. 

In the fall of 2023, Dr. Gwak joined the University of Dayton faculty to nurture the next generation of young musicians. Besides her teaching position, she is currently a Board member of the American Liszt Society (ALS) and a Secretary of the Ohio Chapter of ALS. 

Education
D.M.A. University of Michigan
M.M. Eastman School of Music
B.M. Seoul National University, Seoul, South Korea


Nicole Lee
A native of Vancouver, Canada, Nicole Lee is a pianist acclaimed as both a soloist and a collaborative artist. The Bradenton Herald lauds, “Lee is a consummate artist who exhibits a carefully honed touch with the beauty and refinement of fine porcelain.” As a soloist, she has performed at the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, the Sarasota Opera House, the Orpheum in Vancouver, Canada, and for CBC Radio in 

Ottawa, Canada. She has also performed as soloist with several symphony orchestras, including the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra, the Florida West Coast Symphony, and the New Westminster Symphony, and Kalamazoo Philharmonic and the Valparaiso University Symphony Orchestra. Last year she performed Rachmaninoff’s 3rd Piano Concerto with the Fox Valley Symphony Orchestra in Appleton, Wis., and also Rachmaninoff’s 2nd Piano Concerto with the South Bend Philharmonic. Her awards include First Runner-Up in the International Stravinsky Awards Competition, First Prize in the Pasadena Fine Arts Club Competition, and Semi-finalist in the Royal Over-Seas League Competition in London. 

Lee is also active as a chamber musician. She continues to perform collaborative recitals with instrumentalists and especially enjoys presenting 4-hand piano repertoire with colleague Joseph Bognar. Ms. Lee has performed on the concert series at the Grand Rapids Art Museum, Saugatuck Hempy Keyboard series, and the Dame Myra Hess Concert Series in Chicago. Recently she has been a recitalist with colleagues from Lutheran Summer Music in Minneapolis and Rockford, Ill.   

Lee holds B.M. and M.M. degrees in piano performance from the University of Southern California, where she studied with John Perry. She was named outstanding graduate of the Keyboard Studies Department in both graduate and undergraduate programs. She also holds performance and teacher’s diplomas from the Royal Conservatory of Music of Toronto and Licentiate and Fellowship diplomas from the Trinity College of London. She is currently a member of the music faculty at Valparaiso University, and Lutheran Summer Music where she thoroughly enjoys teaching high school students from all over the country and performing with colleagues.   

Education
M.M. University of Southern California
B.M. University of Southern California
 

Susan Osborn
The Director of the Northwestern Music Academy, the community music division of Northwestern University Bienen School of Music, Dr. Osborn has taught private and group piano to students of all ages and levels for over 30 years. Dr. Osborn is on the Keyboard Skills faculty of the Bienen School and will enter her 29th season this summer teaching at Interlochen Arts Camp. Previously, she taught at DePaul University, Roosevelt University, the People’s School of Music, and the New School for Music Study. Dr. Osborn received her D.M. in Piano Performance and Pedagogy from Northwestern University and holds degrees from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Smith College, and The New School for Music Study. As a recipient of the Harriet Hale Woolley Scholarship, she also studied and performed in Paris, France. Dr. Osborn is an active performer, adjudicator and clinician, both locally and nationally. As a photographer and Chicago architectural tour guide, she adds these areas of expertise to her teaching, specializing in interdisciplinary topics. She has presented and written on topics such as “Teaching: What We Can Learn from the Actor,” and “Imagery and Artistry: Using Photography and Architecture to Enhance Your Piano Teaching.” Dr. Osborn lives in Chicago.

Education
D.M.A. Northwestern University
M.M. University of North Carolina
B.M. Smith College


Phoenix Park-Kim
Professor of Piano at Indiana Wesleyan University, Dr. Phoenix Park-Kim has given recitals throughout the United States, Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, Hong Kong, China, Italy, Sweden, Switzerland, Spain, Argentina, Mexico, Colombia, and Russia and performances in various music festivals such as the Aspen Summer Music Festival, Piano Texas, and the Summer Music in Siena. She has won prizes at numerous competitions including the Miami University, Jefferson City, Kansas City Philharmonia Concerto Competition, and was a finalist at the Liszt-Garrison International Piano Competition and The American Prize Ernst Bacon Award.  She appeared as a soloist with numerous orchestras across the U.S., South Korea and Spain performing piano concertos by Bach, Mozart, Hummel, Beethoven, Chopin, Rachmaninoff, and most recently Florence Price. 

Dr. Park-Kim is dedicated to providing more exposure, to music by African-American composers. In this endeavor, she was awarded the Lilly research grant and also received special congressional recognition. An avid chamber musician, Phoenix regularly performs with Soprani Compagni and Duo Dolce. She has been heard on public radio in the U.S. and beyond and her recordings are available on all digital platforms.  

Education
D.M.A. University of Missouri, Kansas City
M.M. Miami University, Oxford, Ohio
B.M. Yonsei University, Seoul, South Korea
 

Robert Satterlee
Pianist Robert Satterlee has developed a reputation as an accomplished and versatile solo recitalist and chamber musician.  He plays regularly throughout the United States, delighting audiences with his incisive and imaginative performances.  He has appeared on the Dame Myra Hess Memorial Concerts in Chicago, San Francisco’s Old First Concert Series, the Schubert Club in St. Paul, Minnesota, the Music Teachers National Association national conferences, the Quad Cities Mozart Festival and many colleges and universities. 

He regularly performs in China, including concerts in Beijing, Shenyang, Chengdu, Guangzhou, Hangzhou, Harbin, Tianjin and Nanjing. Satterlee has played concerts at the new Romanian-American Festival in Romania, the World Piano Conference in Serbia and at the Interlochen Arts Center in the United States.  He was a featured performer at the Piano Plus Festival and the Summer Piano Institute in Greece and has also performed in Sweden, Holland, Germany, Thailand and Kenya. He has been heard in radio broadcasts throughout the United States, most notably on Minnesota Public Radio and WFMT in Chicago.

Music of our time plays an important role in Satterlee’s performing activity, and he has given premieres of several works.  In June of 2004 he was invited to perform at the Music04 festival in Cincinnati, where he shared a program with the composer and pianist Frederic Rzewski. In 2006 he toured the US with a program of the composer’s works, including a new piece specially written for the tour, and has released a CD of his works on the Naxos label. The CD has garnered glowing reviews, and was selected by the New York Times as one of the outstanding classical recordings of 2014. His most recent CD, with music of Rzewski and William Albright, was released on the Blue Griffin label February 2015.

Satterlee’s avid interest in chamber music has led him to collaborate with members of the Chicago, London, Philadelphia and Detroit Symphony Orchestras in chamber music performances, and he was co-artistic director of Chamber Music Quad Cities, an organization presenting a concert series and music festival in Iowa and Illinois. 

Satterlee was appointed in the fall of 1998 to the piano faculty of Bowling Green State University in Ohio.  He teaches at the Interlochen Arts Camp in the summer.  He has been awarded prizes in many competitions, among them honors in the St. Louis Symphony Young Artists Competition. He holds degrees in piano from Yale University, Peabody Conservatory, and the University of Missouri-Kansas City Conservatory of Music.

Pianist Robert Satterlee has developed a reputation as an accomplished and versatile solo recitalist and chamber musician, playing regularly throughout the United States, Europe and Asia.  He teaches a studio of students from all over the United States and abroad in his position as Professor of Piano at Bowling Green State University. A recent CD of his was selected by the New York Times as one of the outstanding classical recordings of 2014. 

Education
D.M.A. Yale University
M.M. Peabody Conservatory, Johns Hopkins
B.M. University of Missouri, Kansas City
 

Yu-Lien The
Yu-Lien The has performed throughout the U.S., Europe, and Southeast-Asia, including appearances as a soloist with the Nordwestdeutsche Philharmonie, the Kammerorchester Hannover, and the Baroque Orchestra L'Arco. Other notable performances include a two-piano recital with Lori Sims of Messiaen’s “Visions de l’Amen” in 2008 and a lecture-recital of “The Other Diabelli-Variations” in 2012, both at the Gilmore International Keyboard Piano in Kalamazoo. A prizewinner of the 12th International Piano Competition Viotti-Valsesia (Italy) and the Deutsche Musikwettbewerb, she was admitted to the National Concert Podium for Young Artists (Germany), which led to several concert tours with violinist Tomo Keller. Dr. The is a champion of contemporary composers and has been involved in a number of commissions and world premieres. She frequently collaborates with saxophonists Joe Lulloff and Henning Schröder as well as composers Dorothy Chang, Keith Murphy, and Carter Pann. During her tenure with the new music ensemble Opus21, she worked with composers Anna Clyne, David Lang, and Frederic Rzewski, which culminated in premiere performances at Symphony Space (New York) as well as Zankel Hall at Carnegie in 2007 and 2008, respectively.

Born in the Netherlands, Yu-Lien The received most of her musical training in Germany, where she obtained degrees in both piano and recorder performance and pedagogy from the Hochschule für Musik und Theater Hannover. She has earned an Artist Diploma from the Hochschule für Musik Detmold, a Master of Music from Western Michigan University, as well as a D.M.A. in piano performance from Michigan State University. Her principal piano teachers were Arie Vardi, Anatol Ugorski, Deborah Moriarty, and Lori Sims.

Yu-Lien The is Associate Professor of Keyboard Studies at Western Michigan University and has previously served on the faculties at Bowling Green State University, Valparaiso University, and Kalamazoo College.

Education:
D.M.A. Michigan State University
M.M. Western Michigan University

ELEMENTARY DIVISION (AGES 9 AND UNDER)

First Prize: $100 award and trophy

Second Prize: $75 award and trophy

Third Prize: $50 award and trophy

INTERMEDIATE DIVISION (AGES 10–12)*

First Prize: $125 award and trophy

Second Prize: $100 award and trophy

Third Prize: $75 award and trophy

JUNIOR DIVISION (AGES 13–15)*

First Prize: $150 award and trophy

Second Prize: $125 award and trophy

Third Prize: $100 award and trophy

SENIOR DIVISION (AGES 16–18)*

First Prize: $200 award and trophy

Second Prize: $175 award and trophy

Third Prize: $150 award and trophy

*In addition, all competition finalists in grades 8 through 12 as of spring of 2025 will be offered a partial scholarship to the 2025 Gene Marcus Piano Camp and Festival.

SPECIAL AWARDS FOR THE SENIOR DIVISION

Winners in the senior division may be offered a scholarship to pursue a music degree at Purdue University Fort Wayne, contingent upon acceptance at the university.

The Gene Marcus Piano Competition is funded in part by the Gene Marcus Endowment, which was created specifically for that purpose. The competition is also sponsored by the Purdue Fort Wayne School of Music and relies on additional contributions to make its awards possible. If you are interested in becoming a sponsor, please contact us at [email protected] or 260-481-6059. Opportunities include naming one or more prizes, establishing a special prize, or contributing to the general operating budget of the competition. All donations are tax-deductible and will be recognized in the competition winners recital program (unless specified otherwise by the donor).

Wilda “Gene” Marcus (1927–2005) was a lifelong piano teacher and enthusiastic supporter of all the arts. She held several degrees, including bachelor of music in piano with honors from Indiana University, 1950; and a masters of music in piano with distinction, Indiana University, 1951. She was a public-school music teacher and later was associate faculty of piano at Indiana University Purdue University (which is now Purdue University Fort Wayne) from 1968 to 1986. She taught hundreds of piano students of all ages privately, accompanied many soloists, and was pianist in numerous ensembles throughout her 60-year career. Her extensive involvement at the Fort Wayne Civic Theater included rehearsal pianist and music director for numerous musicals. She was a former member of Morning Musical Society and patron of Fort Wayne Civic Theater. She was president of Northeast Indiana Music Teachers Association, a member of Sigma Alpha Iota (Music Honorary Society), and Patron of the Fort Wayne Philharmonic. She was given the 1994 Teacher of the Year Award by the Indiana Music Teachers Association.

Check out the archive to see past winners and judges.

VIEW ARCHIVE