Contest Winners, Book 3: Piano Book

Contest Winners, Book 3 strips away the guesswork by curating pieces that have already proven their worth on festival stages. McArthur's performance and practice notes transform each solo into a guided learning experience, giving your students concrete direction on interpretation and technique rather than leaving them to puzzle through unfamiliar musical terrain.

These pieces offer real musical substance without the weight of virtuosic demands. You'll encounter varied textures, purposeful harmony, and moments that reward both technical clarity and expressive restraint.

Late intermediate pianists preparing for festival adjudication or building a portfolio of substantial solo work. Students ready to move beyond single-page pieces but not yet diving into the full depth of late intermediate classical repertoire will find genuine challenge and musical satisfaction here.

• Study McArthur's annotations before rehearsing independently. Her notes address specific technical hurdles and musical choices that emerge at this level.
• Record yourself playing through each piece at a slower tempo first, focusing on the gestures and phrasing she highlights rather than racing to performance speed.
• Return to the practice tips midway through your preparation. Often a suggestion that seemed vague during first reading becomes clear once you've worked through the harder passages.

Pull from this book when you need solo material for winter or spring recitals where your intermediate pianists deserve spotlight time. The festival pedigree means these pieces hold up beautifully in competitive settings while remaining musically rewarding for students focused on personal progress rather than competition.

• Navigating varied articulation and touch within a single piece
• Voicing inner melodies and accompanying figures clearly
• Building musical interpretation from structural analysis
• Stamina across multi-section forms
• Responding to editorial annotations and performance notes
• Preparing material for adjudicated settings