At this year’s Pine Tree Piano Festival on Saturday, May 6, Waterville had three winners. Soren Nyhus, a senior at Waterville Senior High School, won first place in the Senior Division; Inga Zimba, a eighth grader at Waterville Junior High School, won third place in the Junior Division; and Karin Zimba, a sixth grader at Waterville Junior High School, won first place in the Late Elementary Division.

The festival is a biennial piano competition held at Gould Academy in Bethel. It is sponsored by the Maine Music Teacher Association, under the auspices of the Music Teacher National Association. Teachers throughout the state send their most accomplished students to the competition, who often start preparing a year in advance.

Teacher Ginger Yang Hwalek, left, with her piano student Inga Zimba, and teacher Eileen Ringel, with her piano student Karin Zimba, at the Pine Tree Piano Festival in Bethel.
Teacher Ginger Yang Hwalek, left, with her piano student Inga Zimba, and teacher Eileen Ringel, with her piano student Karin Zimba, at the Pine Tree Piano Festival in Bethel. Contributed photo
Inga Zimba, an eighth grader at Waterville Junior High School, at the piano during the Pine Tree Piano Festival in Bethel. She won third place in the Junior Division.
Inga Zimba, an eighth grader at Waterville Junior High School, at the piano during the Pine Tree Piano Festival in Bethel. She won third place in the Junior Division. Contributed photo
Karin Zimba, a sixth grader at Waterville Junior High School, at the piano during the May 6 Pine Tree Piano Festival. She won first place in the Late ELementary Division.
Karin Zimba, a sixth grader at Waterville Junior High School, at the piano during the May 6 Pine Tree Piano Festival. She won first place in the Late ELementary Division. Contributed photo

Each student plays pieces from three different musical periods while two adjudicators assess their performances.

Nyhus is a student of Lily Funashashi, Inga Zimba is student of Ginger Yang Hwalek, and Karin Zimba is a student of Eileen Ringel.

Following the competition, participants and their families stayed to hear the winners play a selection of their pieces.

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