Wideman Piano Competition 2025 will be held on
December 5-7, 2025

2025 Application will open in September 2025
Application deadline: October 15th, 2025 (10:00 PM ET)

Pre-screening result will be in late October - early November

2025 Eligibility

  • All Contestants must be at least 18 years of age and not older than 30 years of age by December 5, 2025, and must be residents of or studying in North America.

  • Former first place winners of the Wideman Competition are ineligible.

  • If you are now or have been students of the Artistic Director or any of the Judges (named below) at any time during the three (3) year period prior to the 2025 Competition, you are NOT eligible to participate.

    Three judges for the 2025 Competition are:

    • TBA

  • The Competition reserves the right to limit the number of contestants to 30 applicants (based on pre-screening).

  • All contestants must be fully vaccinated for COVID-19. (This eligibility rule is pending confirmation, as we are following guidelines from the Centenary College)

  • All decisions of the Contestant Selection Jury and the Competition Jury will be final. There will be no ties for any prize. Ties will be broken by the Artistic Director.

Repertoire

  • There are three rounds:

    1) Pre-screening: Recorded pre-screening, if passed, you will be invited for live competition.

    2) Preliminary: Live performance, contestants may select any piano concerto, each contestants will be playing 15 minutes.

    3) Final Round: Live performance, finalists will play the complete concerto.

  • All concertos must be memorized.

  • For the pre-screening, prepare video recordings of two contrasting works, free choice of solo or concerto, (length at the discretion of participants), can be uploaded in two separate links. Recordings will be submitted as YouTube links in the online application.

Accompanist

  • Each contestant must make provisions for an accompanist.

    If requested on the application form, an accompanist will be provided by the Competition for an additional $120, paid directly to the Wideman Piano Competition upon notification of competitor selection.

  • In the event that you decide you will provide your own accompanist, please contact us, as the fee will become non-refundable after November 10, 2025.

  • If you decide after November 10th that you will in fact need an accompanist, the fee will increase to $200 to accommodate you. 

Application and Fees

How to Apply

2025 Application will be open Sept 1, 2025

  • Complete and submit your online Application Form (be sure to upload all the necessary documents)

  • Send the $150 application fee through PayPal

No application is complete and will not be accepted until a non-refundable application fee of $150.00 has been received.

*if for any reason, the competition is cancelled due to COVID-19, the application fee will be refunded.

Deadline

All applications and fees must be completed by October 15th, 2025 10:00 PM ET.

Accommodation

Housing

Upon notification of competitor selection, each contestant will be sent information on available accommodations in private homes (for free) or hotels (at contestant’s own expense).

Housing in private homes will be ONLY for contestants. Any other person who is not competing (family members/accompanists) will not be eligible.

Transportation

Each contestant must make provisions for transportation to Shreveport, Louisiana. Several Airlines fly to the Shreveport Regional Airport. Once in Shreveport, van transportation will be provided to carry contestants to and from Centenary College, housing, and the airport. 

There is no train service to Shreveport. Also, there is no bus service available.