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JUDGES FOR THE FINAL ROUND OF THE 2026 COMPETITION MAX LEVINSON Pianist Max Levinson is known as an intelligent and sensitive artist with a fearless  technique. His international career was launched when he won First Prize at the Dublin  International Piano Competition. He is also recipient of other prestigious prizes including  the Avery Fisher Career Grant and the Andrew Wolf Award. He has performed as soloist  with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, St. Louis Symphony, Detroit Symphony, San  Francisco Symphony, Baltimore Symphony, St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, Oregon  Symphony, Indianapolis Symphony, Colorado Symphony, New World Symphony, Utah  Symphony, Boston Pops, and National Symphony Orchestra of Ireland, andRead More →

YOU told us …and WE listened… THANKS to popular demand the 2026 Steinway Society of Massachusetts Piano Competition has been moved to later this Spring. The 2026 SSOMA Piano Competition will now be held during four in-person events on several weekends in May and June. The Preliminary Round scheduled for the weekends of May 2, 3 and 9, the Semifinal Round on the weekend of May 30 and 31, and the Final Round on Saturday, June 6 will all be held at M. Steinert & Sons’ Waltham location. The Winners Concert scheduled for June 7, 2026 will be held at the Allen Center in Newton.Read More →

RASA VITKAUSKAITE FANEUF Internationally acclaimed, multiple prize-winning Lithuanian pianist RASA VITKAUSKAITE FANEUF has been hailed for “artistry of poetic and observant sensitivity” (Gramophone) and dubbed as “a Beethoven interpreter of penetrating insight” (Fanfare). She is quickly establishing herself as one of the leading recording artists of her generation. Her latest CD including Mozart Concerto No. 20 in D Minor and Beethoven Concerto No. 3 in C Minor was praised as comparable to Rudolf Serkin and the New York Philharmonic. Rasa has performed in over 30 countries and was recently named the Steinway Artist. She released her debut solo CD Reflections on Ongaku Records in 2014, featuring works by Beethoven, Ravel, Guastavino and Liebermann. Fanfare highlighted theRead More →

Division II : First Place – Chloe Tan Student of Gregg Pauley Twelve-year-old Chloe Tan expressed an early interest in piano and has been studying piano with Gregg Pauley since age 4 in Newmarket, NH. She has been competing from age 8  and has been top prize winner in the Granite State Competition in New Hampshire for 3 years in a row, awarded first prize last year. She also competed in Young Artists Piano Competition in Westfield State University, Westfield, Massachusetts last year where she again won first prize in her category.   In the past, she has had the good fortune of attending masterclasses withRead More →

Division I : First Place – Ian Lin Student of Tanya Schwartzman Ian J. Lin is from South Kingstown, Rhode Island.  He is 11 years old and a 7th grader at Curtis Corner Middle School.  Ian is a pianist, a composer and a violinist.    He studies piano under Ms. Tanya Schwartzman, the director of Sharon Music Academy, a winner of many outstanding teacher awards.  He has won many piano awards and music composition awards (Please see below for a list of selected awards).  He has performed at Carnegie Weill Recital Hall, and BSO Concert Hall. He gives solo concerts at local nursing homes every year aroundRead More →

Division III : Second Place – Michael Karshis Student of Tanya Schwartzman Michael Karshis is a 16-year-old piano student of Ms. Tanya Schwartzman at Sharon Music Academy. He is currently a Junior at Xaverian Brothers High School with a trustee scholarship and is a piano tutor and assistant at Sharon Music Academy. Mr. Karshis has performed in the Washington D.C.’s Kennedy Center’s Millennium Stage Hall as the first place winner of the 33rd International Young Artist Competition, Puerto Rico. He has performed at the Kurozwęki Palace in Poland, and in Carnegie Hall in New York City. He is a 2nd place winner of the 2020 NewRead More →

Division II : Second Place – Sara Tardif Student of HuiMin Wang Sara Tardif, a 15 year old 10th grader at Braintree High School, began studying piano at the age 5 under Ms. Julia Bernstein at the New England Conservatory Preparatory School.  Since the Fall of last year, she entered Ms. HuiMin Wang’s studio at the South Shore Conservatory. As a young, accomplished pianist, Sara has won multiple 1st prizes in the Massachusetts Music Teachers Association’s Bay State Competition.  She was the 2nd prize winner in the 29th International Young Artist Piano Competition in Washington, DC. In 2015, Sara received the First Degree Certificate in VIIIRead More →

Division I: Second Place – Masanobu Pires Student of Bianca Oglice Masanobu Pires is from Sharon, Massachusetts. He is 9 years old and a fourth grade student at East Elementary School in Sharon, MA. He began playing piano at age. He enrolled in New England Conservatory (NEC) Preparatory School in September 2019. He currently studies with Bianca Oglice. In February 2020, he participated in the Eleanor B. Nelson Concerto Competition (Quincy, Massachusetts) with a Bach F minor Concerto and received an Honorable Mention. In October 2020, he participated StayHome International Piano Competition and won the second place. Outside of piano, Masa is an active hikerRead More →

Division III: Third Place – Meghan Tan Student of Natalia Harlap Meghan Tan is a 17 year old from Westford, Massachusetts. She is a senior at Westford Academy. She studies the piano with Mrs. Natalia Harlap. Meghan has won prizes at competitions for both concertos and solo piano. She was a finalist in the New England Conservatory Preparatory School Concerto Competition and has most recently received awards in the MMTA Bay State, NEPTA, and Steinway Competitions.