Bonnie Kellert (BM, ’69, MM ’71, Piano), a former student of Leon Fleisher, chaired the 2014 Washington International Competition for Pianists sponsored by the Friday Morning Music Club Foundation. The finals were held at the Terrace Theater of the John F. Kennedy Center on Sunday, June 8. Kellert was interviewed on WPFW the following day to recap the event plus give information about the FMMC and the FMMC Foundation. The level of the contestants was so high that the three judges, Jerome Rose, Ilana Vered and Ralph Votapek, persuaded the competition committee to extend the number of finalists which was unprecedented in the competition’s 61 years! Over 175 pianists applied from around the globe and a preliminary panel of five judges ranked their mp3 performances. The contestants with the top 16 scores were invited to come to Washington, D.C., to compete in the semifinals. Kellert is a former first prize winner and the youngest winner of the WIC. She was extremely impressed with the extraordinarily eight talented pianists who were selected as finalists. This year, monetary prizes of over $22,000 were awarded and recitals at the Kennedy Center and the Phillips Collection are offered to the top winners.
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