The Sherer International Piano and Strings Competition
March 21-22, 2026
Goshen College Music Center
Solomia Soroka, artistic director
Jeshua Franklin, executive director
The Sherer International Piano and Strings Competition is an annual music competition named in honor of the late Lon and Kathryn Sherer, Goshen College Professors Emeritus of Music. For 40 years, Lon (violin) and Kathryn (piano) created, nurtured and developed instrumental music at Goshen College, bringing the program to unprecedented heights through their talent, hard work, and pedagogy.
Prizes
Prizes will be awarded in each of the two competition divisions — Piano, and Strings (violin/viola/cello)
1st Prize: $1,000
2nd Prize: $500
3rd Prize: $300
Judges’ decisions on all prizes are final.
Eligibility
The competition is open to classically-trained pianists, violinists, violists, and cellists in grades 8-12 (ages between 13-18 as of March 21, 2025). Competition applicants must not be enrolled in a degree program at a college or university.
Application
Applications will be accepted beginning May 1, 2025. A completed application form, payment of non-refundable $75 application fee, and uploaded video recording file must be submitted by the registration deadline. String players may bring their own accompanist, or the competition will provide one for an additional $120 fee, payable at time of registration.
The deadline for application has been EXTENDED to: Tuesday, March 10, 2026.
Screening Recording
As of January 2026, a screening recording is no longer required for applications.
Repertoire
Violin/Viola/Cello
Repertoire should include contrasting selections from at least two of the following style periods: Baroque, Classical, Romantic, Contemporary. Standard concerto movements are permitted. Memorization is not required. Students should aim for a program no longer than 20 minutes in length. Competitors exceeding the 20 minute limit will be stopped.
Piano
Repertoire should include contrasting selections for solo piano from at least two of the following style periods: Baroque, Classical, Romantic, Contemporary. Concerto performances are NOT permitted for piano. Extended techniques such as introducing foreign objects into the workings of the piano, strumming or plucking of strings, etc. are also not permitted. All pieces must be memorized. Students should aim for a program no longer than 20 minutes in length. Competitors exceeding the 20 minute limit will be stopped.
Notification
All entrants will be notified of acceptance via email no later than Fri. March 13, 2026.
Competition Schedule
Schedule is subject to change
Sample Saturday schedule
- 10 a.m. – 2:00 p.m. – Student arrival, registration, rehearsal, and practice time
- 6:30 p.m. – Drawing for performance order, and reception for contestants
- 7:00 p.m. – Concert, Sherer Piano Trio & Guest Artists, Rieth Recital Hall
Sample Sunday schedule
- Morning – Warm-ups for violinists with accompanists, and pianists
- 10:00 a.m. – Piano Adjudication, Sauder Concert Hall
- 10:00 a.m. – Strings Adjudication, Rieth Recital Hall
- 4:00 p.m. – Award Ceremony and Competition Winners Concert, Rieth Recital Hall
Judges
Dr. Matthew Hill, piano
Matthew Hill, DMA, pianist and Goshen College professor of music, is chair of the music department and teaches piano, chamber music, music history, and as a result of the strong influence from his wife and daughter, also teaches a general education course in Opera and Musical Theatre. He has studied with such renowned musicians as Howard Karp and Claude Frank, whose respective pedagogical genealogies include Rosina Lhévinne and Arthur Schnabel. He has had a variety of teaching and performing experiences both nationally and internationally. Dr. Hill participated at the Schlern International Music Festival held in the Dolomites of northern Italy through invitation as a teacher, performer, and master class clinician. In China, he taught a series of master classes at the Sichuan Conservatory of Music, and presented a solo recital. Matthew received his doctorate in piano performance at University of Wisconsin-Madison. His students have gone on to further graduate study at many different graduate schools, including Kansas City Conservatory of Music, Cleveland Institute of Music, University of Wisconsin-Madison, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, University of Oklahoma, Westminster Choir College, and the University of South Florida
Dr. Robert Boardman, conductor
American conductor Robert Boardman maintains an international career spanning symphonic repertoire, contemporary music, and large-scale film-with-orchestra productions. He has been closely associated with the music of composer Howard Shore since 2006 and is recognized as a specialist in concert presentations of The Lord of the Rings.
A strong advocate for new music, Boardman has conducted 24 world premieres and numerous commissioned works. Notable projects include the saxophone concerto Motown Dreams by Jorge Muniz, written for Grammy Award–winning saxophonist Timothy McAllister, as well as premieres by composers Thom Limbert, John Griffith, Jessica Carter, Andrew Osano, and Ryan Olivier. He conducted the North American premiere of Anna Clyne’s Masquerade soon after its debut at the BBC Proms and led the premiere and recording of Lembit Beecher’s multimedia oratorio And Then I Remember… at the University of Michigan.
From 2012 to 2018, Boardman served as Cover Conductor and Artistic Director of Live from Orchestra Hall, the Detroit Symphony Orchestra’s internationally streamed concert series, collaborating with conductors including Neeme Järvi, Leonard Slatkin, Thomas Dausgaard, Giancarlo Guerrero, Hannu Lintu, Andrey Boreyko, Carlos Miguel Prieto, and Nicolaj Znaider. Boardman has conducted more than thirty orchestras across North America and Europe, including the Spokane Symphony Orchestra, South Bend Symphony Orchestra, Interlochen Arts Academy Orchestra, Cornell University Symphony Orchestra, Ithaca College Symphony Orchestra, Cabrillo Festival Orchestra, and the Ann Arbor Symphony Orchestra.
Dr. Arthur Greene, piano
Arthur Greene was born in New York City. He received degrees from Yale, Juilliard, and Stony Brook. He studied with Martin Canin. Until recent events, he has spent summers with his
extended family in Ukraine. Mr. Greene treasures the inheritance of our rich piano repertoire, which he considers among humanity’s greatest achievements, and he is grateful for the opportunity to bring it to life and to share it with as many people as possible.
Mr. Greene was first prize winner in major international competitions. He has performed with the Philadelphia Orchestra, the San Francisco, Utah, and National Symphonies, the Ukraine National Symphony, the Czech National Symphony, the Tokyo Symphony, and many others. He has played recitals in Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Center, Moscow Rachmaninov Hall, Tokyo Bunka Kaikan, Lisbon Sao Paulo Opera House, Hong Kong City Hall and concert houses in Shanghai, Beijing, and Seoul, and all the
major cities in Japan. He was an Artistic Ambassador to Serbia, Kosovo, and Bosnia for the United States Information Agency. Arthur Greene is a member of the piano faculty of the University of Michigan. There he has won the Harold Haugh Award for Excellence in Studio Teaching. Mr. Greene and his students presented a recital series of the complete solo works of Chopin in nine concerts. He was Professor at Korea National University of Arts in Seoul for the academic year 2023-24.
Ketevan Badridze, piano
Born in Tbilisi, Georgia, Ketevan Badridze is an award winning pianist. Since her first performance with an orchestra at the age of ten, Ketevan has appeared with Tbilisi Symphony, Georgian National Symphony and Chamber Orchestras, Yerevan Philharmonic Orchestra, BBC Welsh Symphony Orchestra, and South Bend Symphony Orchestra. She is a seasoned performer of solo and chamber music in United States, Georgia, France, Austria, Holland, Italy and Germany. Her collaborations include performances with Lisa Batiashvili, Alexander Korsantia, Gregory Fulkerson as well as Euclid and Georgian National Quartets. Mrs. Badridze recorded Mozart Piano Concerto in C Minor with Tbilisi Symphony Orchestra. Most recent albums feature Prokofiev: Music for violin and piano and French Violin sonatas with Violinist Jameson Cooper. Ketevan is a prizewinner of numerous international competitions, such as Newport International Piano Competition -UK, The World International Piano Competition – Cincinnati, New Orleans International Piano Competition, and the Bartok-Kabalevsky-Prokofiev International Piano Competition. She received her Master of Music and Postgraduate degrees from Tbilisi State Conservatory under the tutelage of Temur Matureli and Nodar Gabunia and in 1993 she was appointed to the piano faculty there. In 2000, Ketevan moved to the United States to study at Indiana University South Bend with Professor Alexander Toradze, where she received her Master’s Degree and Artist Diploma. Since Spring 2005 Ms. Badridze serves as a member of music faculty at Indiana University at South Bend.
Collaborative Pianist – Luke Norell
A native of Minnesota, pianist Luke Norell has concertized internationally as soloist and chamber musician and frequently performs with his wife Mary Rose as the Norell Piano Duo. They recently performed Poulenc’s Concerto for Two Pianos with the Maple City Community Orchestra. Luke has frequently soloed with the MCCO, as well as the Southwest Minnesota Orchestra. Other notable performances have been at Edvard Grieg’s historic home at Troldhaugen, the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and the University of Indianapolis. Dr. Norell serves as the Piano Program Director for the Goshen College Community School of the Arts, as collaborative pianist for the Goshen College Music Department, and as vice president of the Edvard Grieg Society of the Great Lakes. Luke received his B.M. degree from the University of Northwestern (St. Paul), where he was recently honored with the 2024 “Music and Theatre Hall of Recognition” award, one of the school’s top alumni honors. He completed his M.M. and D.M. degrees in Piano Performance at Indiana University with André Watts.
Sherer Competition Artistic Director – Solomia Soroka
Solomia Soroka, DMA, is professor of music at Goshen College, where she teaches violin, chamber music, and music theory courses. Born in Lviv, Ukraine, she earned her master’s degree and completed her postgraduate studies in the Kiev (Kyiv) Conservatory, and later served on its staff in the department of chamber music. She also has a DMA degree from Eastman School of Music. She studied with Hersh Heifetz, Bohodar Kotorovych, Lyudmyla Zvirko and Charles Castleman. Solomia Soroka made her solo debut at ten, playing the Mendelssohn Violin Concerto with the Lviv Philharmonic Orchestra. She has appeared at concerts and festivals in Australia, Canada, China, France, Germany, Italy, New Zealand, Taiwan and Ukraine. Since her American debut in 1997, she has performed throughout the United States as well.
Solomia Soroka has toured and recorded extensively with her husband, the pianist Arthur Greene. Their Naxos recording of Four Violin Sonatas by William Bolcom was selected as Recording of the Month with the highest ranking for both artistry and sound quality by Classics Today, and received reviews in various distinguished journals
In the past eight years Soroka has been recording for Toccata Records, based in London, where she made six premier recordings, of music by American composer Arthur Hartmann, Ukrainian Myroslav Skoryk, Mykola Lysenko, and Yevhen Stankovych, and Holocaust composers Leone Sinigaglia and Bernhard Sekles.
During the summer Solomia Soroka is on the faculty of Music Fest in Perugia, Italy. She also has taught at the Castleman Quartet Program, Pilsen Summer Academy, and Schlern Music Festival. Ms. Soroka is active giving masterclasses in her native Ukraine, USA, China, South Korea, Taiwan, Israel, Czech Republic, and Italy.
For more information please reach out to Solomia Soroka at [email protected]