2025 Festival
Friday, April 4th – Sunday, April 6th
Friday concert for adults!
How To Apply
Applications for the 2025 festival will open on Thursday, January 2nd, 2025.
All applications should be completed by you, the piano teacher. When submitting piece information, please be sure to submit thorough and detailed information for the program such as opus number, BWV number, composer’s full name, etc.
2025 Festival Guidelines
Registration and repertoire:
- All applications should be completed by you, the piano teacher. When submitting piece information, please be sure to submit thorough and detailed information for the program such as opus number, BWV number, composer’s full name and dates, etc.
- The fee for the festival is $35 per student. Powers students participate for free. We offer fee waivers for any low-moderate income households.
- The application will become available online on Thursday, January 2nd. The deadline for submissions will be Friday, February 21st. Performance slots will be filled on a first-come, first-served basis. The festival may fill before the application deadline, so early submissions are encouraged!
- Total playing time must not exceed 5 minutes for beginner students, 7 minutes for intermediate students, and 10 minutes for advanced students. Students may play up to two individual pieces or two movements of a multi-movement work, within the time limit. Please note that Bach’s Prelude and Fugues are considered two movements. Repertoire that is submitted over the time or movement limit will need to be cut.
- Repertoire should come from the standard recital repertoire (no method books).
- Memorization is a requirement for the Mildred Freiberg Piano Festival (but optional for the Adult Concert).
Scheduling:
- The festival schedule will be sent to all participating students and their teachers by Friday, March 21st.
- We will have two performance spaces: the large Concert Hall and the more intimate Cabot Room. Students will be assigned their performance space based on age. Students up through age 10 will perform in the Cabot Room, and students ages 11 and older will perform in the Concert Hall.
- The 7:30pm concerts on both Saturday and Sunday nights are reserved for the most advanced students. Placement on these concerts is by teacher recommendation. If you have a student(s) playing at a very high level, please be sure to nominate them for these special concerts on the application form.
- The application will ask for a student’s preferred performance date. While specific times cannot be requested, we will do our best to give each student their requested day. Please note that students should be prepared to accept any performance time for that day. No exceptions can be made for extracurriculars, sports, etc.
- If you have questions, please contact Dr. Meghan Miller, Associate Director, at 617-484-4696 ext. 3 or mmiller@powersmusic.org.
About the Mildred Freiberg Piano Festival
This weekend-long celebration consists of multiple concerts and performances by students from all over the region. This festival was the catalyst for the founding of our School in 1964 and has become a tradition for students in grades K-12.
Over the years, the festival concerts have celebrated both a student’s first performance and the exciting accomplishments of more mature artists. A variety of styles and teaching methods are presented through these performances in a non-competitive manner that stimulates the local music community.
In 2004, it was with great honor that we renamed this long-standing Belmont Piano Festival after Mildred P. Freiberg. Mildred Freiberg was a highly esteemed pianist, educator, and mentor to many and was a former Powers Music School Board President and one of the founders of our School.
Powers is committed to making music education and performance opportunities accessible to all who desire them. We strive to make the Piano Festival application process and the experience of the festival itself more accessible and welcoming through application fee waivers for low-to-moderate income households and live-streaming of our evening festival concerts.