Saturday, Jan. 30, 2027
Grades 9 through 12
Registration: $35
Registration Ends: January 17, 2027
Registration:
Due Date: January 17, 2027
General Information:
- All questions/comments should come from teachers only
- Parents and students are not allowed to contact Musicfest staff to discuss any portion of the competition.
Teachers should take time to review all of the current Guidelines, and go over these Guidelines with the participating students and their parents.
- Performers must complete the application and submit the registration fee in order to perform. Early application is advised. It is possible that all available slots for performers will be filled before application deadline.
- The application must include the complete and accurate titles of the pieces to be performed, along with the full composer names, opus/catalog numbers (if applicable), movement designations (if applicable), and key signatures (if applicable).
- Performers must be Arizona residents.
- Performers must be in grades 9 through 12, no younger than 14 (acceptable if student is turning 14 within the school year) and no older than 18 years of age.
- Schedule conflicts may be submitted in the application form’s comments section, but Arizona Musicfest does not guarantee that we will be able to accommodate all conflicts. No conflicts will be accepted after the application deadline.
- To edit your application information after submission, please return to the original confirmation email you received and follow the instructions in that email. No changes are allowed after the application deadline.
- No application refunds will be given in the event of performer withdrawal.
- Each teacher and performer must abide by all requirements and deadlines stated herein. Non-compliance will result in disqualification.
- Performers MUST PROVIDE THEIR OWN PIANISTS
- Jazz singers are encouraged to compete in our jazz competition.
Date & Time:
- The Competition will be held on Saturday, January 30, from 9:00 am – 6:00 pm.
- The times in the table below are the estimated window for each division.
- Divisions may begin earlier or later depending on the number of entrants
- Exact performance timeslots will be emailed out the week following the application due date.
- Performers may only perform during their division’s window
- The times in the table below are the estimated window for each division.
Divisions:
| Division | Number of Pieces | Warm-Up Duration | Performance Duration |
| I (Grades 9+10) | 2 | 7 minutes | 7 minutes |
| II (Grades 11+12) | 2 | 7 minutes | 7 minutes |
Music:
- Performers must perform two contrasting selections, from one of the three options below:
- One selection from classical repertoire and one selection from musical theatre repertoire.
OR
- Two contrasting selections from classical repertoire.
OR
- Two contrasting selections from musical theatre repertoire.
- All selections must be memorized.
- Both selections will be performed in the order of the performer’s choice.
- Performers will “slate” – give their name and the names of the pieces that they will be performing in order of performance.
- If the performer’s piece(s) exceed the length of the allotted competition time, please note the judges may stop a performance in order to stay on schedule, with no penalty to the performer.
- Performers must provide three total copies of their score(s):
- Score(s) must have measures numbered and cuts marked (if any) so the judges can use them as a reference during the performance.
- One Steinway piano will be provided.
- Please dress in appropriate concert attire.
Accompaniment:
- Pieces for voice and piano must be performed with accompaniment.
- Performers must provide their own live accompanist. No tracks of any kind will be allowed.
Location:
The competition will be held at Arizona Musicfest: 7950 E Thompson Peak Pkwy. Scottsdale, AZ 85255
Prizes:
- Up to three performers from each Division may be awarded cash prizes in the amounts detailed below.
- Awarded performers may be invited to perform in the Young Musicians Concert Series in the MIM Music Theater.
- Awarded performers may receive additional performance opportunities as they become available.
Division First Prize Second Prize Third Prize I (Grades 9 & 10) $350 $200 $100 II (Grades 11 & 12) $450 $350 $200
Adjudication:
- Judges will stop performers if their performance exceeds the competition time limit. There is no penalty if a performer needs to be stopped for this reason.
- Judges may elect to award Honorable Mentions to performers demonstrating high levels of artistry in their performances.
- Judges have the option to withhold prizes.
- All teachers will receive judges’ comments within a week of the adjudication date.
- Musicfest’s competitions do not have a prescribed scoring system, and thus require that all judges hear all the competition participants to allow for proper verbal deliberation and a fair outcome. Since selective recusal is not allowed, by agreeing to be on this jury panel, the judges agree that they will not submit their own students as competitors. Furthermore, performers are ineligible to participate if they or their principal teacher have a familial relationship with a judge.
- The judges have full discretion over awarding decisions, which are final and cannot be challenged.
Getting Here
Adjudication Panel
Andrea Pitman Will
Dr. Andrea Pitman Will, soprano, holds a Doctorate of Musical Arts in voice from Arizona State University, a Master’s degree in voice from Northwestern University, and a Bachelor’s degree in voice from Arizona State University.
As a performer, Dr. Will has appeared in both opera and musical theatre, which informs her perspective across genres. Her repertoire spans classical and contemporary styles, with particular strength in coloratura roles.
Her operatic repertoire includes coloratura favorites such as Zerbinetta in Ariadne auf Naxos, the Queen of the Night in The Magic Flute, and Norina in Don Pasquale, as well as Mabel in The Pirates of Penzance and the title role in The Merry Widow. Concert work includes soprano solos in Poulenc’s Gloria, Orff’s Carmina Burana, and Handel’s Messiah.
Equally at home in musical theatre, her credits include Marian in The Music Man (Best Actress in a Musical nomination), with additional work in Cinderella, The Sound of Music, and Menken’s A Christmas Carol. Musical theatre concert engagements include solo work in “An Afternoon with Kern and Hammerstein” with selections from Show Boat and other musicals, as well as “Masterworks” featuring the music of Leonard Bernstein. She has also performed in touring concert productions, including programs of Broadway and popular music.
With professional experience in both opera and musical theatre, Dr. Will teaches singers across a variety of genres, including opera and art song, classic and contemporary musical theatre, and popular music. She works with each singer to support individual goals and build technique and artistry within their chosen styles, in a studio environment that values each singer’s path and development. Her students have achieved professional success in national tours, off-Broadway productions, and regional theaters, as well as work in summer stock, cruise lines, and theme parks.
Her doctoral research focuses on vocal pedagogy for the child-bearing singer. In Pregnancy and Postpartum: A Guide for Singers, she synthesized research from physical therapy, medicine, and surgery into a resource for singers and voice teachers. Her work is cited internationally, and she appears frequently as a voice teacher and guest speaker throughout Arizona.
Dr. Will joined the voice faculty at Arizona State University in 2014 and was appointed to a full-time position in 2017. She is a member of the National Association of Teachers of Singing (NATS) and has held multiple leadership roles in the Valley of the Sun Chapter.
Dr. Kenny Miller
Dr. Kenny Miller joined Phoenix College as the Coordinator of Vocal Studies and director of the Choirs at Phoenix College in 2008. With the choirs, he has prepared and conducted Mozart’s Vesperae solennes de confessore, Vaughan William’s In Windsor Forest, Rutter’s Requiem, Thompson’s Frostiana, Beethoven’s Choral Fantasy, and many others, including the Arizona premier of Gene Koshinski’s Concerto for Marimba and Choir with Percussion.
Dr. Miller is also the founder, Executive Director, and singer with the early music ensemble HELIOS: a modern renaissance. Their first album, à7, was released in 2021 and can be streamed and purchased on all of the major streaming services. He is a former singer and an assistant conductor of the Grammy Award-winning Phoenix Chorale, with whom he recorded the highly acclaimed album Northern Lights, released on the Chandos label in 2012 and the 2016 Grammy Award Winning Rachmaninoff All-Night Vigil. Additionally, he is the co-founder of ArtSong Rising, which aims to continue the tradition of art song throughout the west coast region of the US. In 2019, Kenny was featured as a singer and arranger on internationally acclaimed guitarist Nils Lofgren’s recording Blue with Lou.
Kenny’s performance studies have led him to work with Ian Partridge of London’s Royal Academy of Music and Stephen Banfield of Bristol University, England. His conducting and performance practice studies have included the involvement of such musicians as Siegbert Rampe and Stanly Ritchie.
Stephanie Weiss
Stephanie Weiss, mezzo-soprano, is an associate professor of voice at Arizona State University – Herberger Institute for Design and the Arts – School of Music, Dance and Theatre. She earned her bachelor’s in music from New England Conservatory (voice), bachelor’s in biology and drama Tufts University, master’s in music from University of Missouri-Kansas City, Professional Studies Diploma from Mannes College of Music, and Doctor of Musical Arts from University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Previously, she was assistant professor of voice at University of Nevada, Las Vegas, a teaching fellow with the Metropolitan Opera Education Department, and has served on the faculty of COSI (Centre for Opera Studies in Italy) in Sulmona, Italy. She currently is on the faculty at Dramatic Voices Program at Opera Programs Berlin and since 2010, she has been on the voice faculty at AIMS in Graz.
A San Diego native, she was a Midwest Regional Finalist of the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions and at Mannes College of Music, a recipient of a Richard F. Gold Career Grant from the Shoshana Foundation. As the winner of the American Berlin Opera Foundation Competition (now Opera Foundation), she became a member of Deutsche Oper Berlin as a Stipendiatin and continues to be a regular guest artist with the company. Roles at the Deutsche Oper Berlin have included Frasquita (Carmen), Musetta (La bohème), Erste Dame and Zweite Dame (Die Zauberflöte), Gerhilde and Grimgerde (Die Walküre), and Schlafittchen (Berlin premiere of Das Traumfresserchen), Marianne Leitmetzerin (Der Rosenkavalier), Aufseherin (Elektra), Johanna [cover] (Szenen aus dem Leben der Heiligen Johanna), and Venus [cover] (Tannhäuser) in the company’s tour to Beijing.
On the concert stage, she debuted with the Berlin Philharmonic as the Cook in “Le Rossignol” under the baton of Pierre Boulez. She has also sung the role of Rose in “Lakmé” at Carnegie Hall with Opera Orchestra of New York under Eve Queler. She performed “Wesendonck Lieder” with the Henderson Symphony Orchestra, Mahler’s “Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen” and Symphony No. 4, and Strauss’ “Vier letzte Lieder” with the L’viv Philharmonic (Ukraine), and Santuzza in “Cavalleria rusticana” with Singakademie Potsdam.
A versatile performer, she has also been seen at Staatsoper Unter den Linden in Berlin as Erste Dame (Die Zauberflöte), Marcellina (Le nozze di Figaro) and Marthe (Faust), Oper Frankfurt as Musetta (La bohème), Oper Leipzig as Grimgerde (Die Walküre) and Stadttheater Bern, Oper Dortmund, and Oper Köln as Marianne Leitmetzerin. Other notable performances have included Venus in “Tannhäuser” with Mecklenburgisches Staatstheater Schwerin, and the title role of Johanna in “Szenen aus dem Leben der Heiligen Johanna” by Walter Braunfels at Oper Köln.
An advocate of new music and art song, she performs frequently with her ‘duo au courant’ partner, pianist Christina Wright-Ivanova. They performed the world premiere of Jonathan Stark’s song cycle “Passageway” at the National Opera Center and presented a lecture recital in Sydney, Australia. Recently, the duo’s debut CD, “Sacred & Profane – Duo au Courant performs Song Cycles of Daren Hagen” was released on Albany Records and distributed by Naxos.