Piano Repertoire Competition: What It Is, Where It’s Run and How It’s Judged

One pianist plays two contrasting pieces of their own choice in a single class entered by an age ceiling, marked out of 100 by an adjudicator.

Piano Repertoire is a pairing class. Instead of one prepared piece, the pianist offers two pieces of their own choice and plays them back to back, so the adjudicator hears range as well as accuracy. It sits between the single-piece solo class and the long recital: more demanding than the first, far shorter and less tiring than the second.

On the eTalenter template that carries it, the class is entered by age ceiling rather than by exam grade. The printed ceilings run from nine and under up to eighteen and under, and the time limit grows with the age band: eight minutes for the youngest tiers, nine at eleven and under, ten at thirteen and under, and twelve at fifteen and eighteen and under. The youngest tier is shown as seven and under, because the lowest printed class is placed on every tier it covers. It is an individual item, open to boys and girls together, with no language attached and a plain mark out of 100.

A round is quiet and simple. Entrants are called in order, sit, play the first piece, move straight on to the second, and leave while the adjudicator writes a comment and a mark. The time limit covers both pieces together with the walk-on and any adjustment of the stool, so a player who chooses two long pieces has less margin than one who chooses a pair of short, contrasting ones.

The class rewards a thoughtful choice. The two pieces are meant to differ in period, style or mood, and the template’s rules also say a piece already used in the same player’s solo class should not be repeated here. Organisers add the class because it gives pupils a middle step between a single performance piece and a full recital, and because it lets a coordinator put every age band on one scoring scale.

Where Piano Repertoire is run

On the eTalenter templates Piano Repertoire appears once, in a British children and young people’s music, speech and drama eisteddfod, where it is one of several repertoire classes alongside strings, woodwind, brass and voice. The same two-pieces-of-own-choice idea is common in music festivals across the English-speaking world, but this page records only the one template above.

• United Kingdom

Key facts

• Individual entry, open to boys and girls together; no language is set
• Two own-choice pieces played in one appearance, not a single piece
• Entered by age ceiling: nine, eleven, thirteen, fifteen and eighteen and under (the lowest class also covers a seven-and-under tier)
• Time limit by tier: 8 minutes up to nine and under, 9 at eleven, 10 at thirteen, 12 at fifteen and eighteen and under
• Marked out of 100; the source prints no judging criteria, so none are assumed here
• Different from Piano Solo (one piece, graded by standard) and from Piano Recital (a longer programme in one open class)

On eTalenter, Piano Repertoire is filed under Music and typically scored with Marks. It appears in 1 ready-made event templates — each one can adjust its time limit, age-group assignment and scoring setup independently.

Across the templates that use it, Piano Repertoire is most often entered as an Individual competition, typically scored out of 100, commonly time-limited to 8–12 minutes where a limit is set.

What judges look at in Piano Repertoire

What a Piano Repertoire panel is actually weighing up, and where the marks are usually won or lost:

• Contrast between the two pieces: a clear difference in period, style or mood shows range, while two near-identical pieces waste the chance
• Accuracy and security in both pieces, with the second as steady as the first rather than rushed or tired
• Tone and touch: a controlled, varied sound, with quiet playing as well as louder passages
• Musical shape: phrasing, dynamics and a clear idea for each piece, so each feels chosen rather than merely learnt
• Fit of the pieces to the player: music at the edge of the entrant’s ability that is played cleanly beats something harder that falls apart
• Time discipline and platform manner: finishing inside the limit for the age band, with a calm entrance and a clean move from one piece to the next

Treat these as the judging focus, not a fixed rubric: publish your own weighted criteria for Piano Repertoire under Scoring Setup, or start from the full instrumental music competition judging criteria guide.

How to prepare for Piano Repertoire

How entrants and their teachers usually get Piano Repertoire right on the day:

• Pick the pair together, not one after the other: choose two pieces that differ in character but suit the same hands, and check the total fits the time limit for the age band
• Time the whole class with a stopwatch, including sitting down, adjusting the stool and the pause between pieces, and trim a repeat if the total is close to the limit
• Practise the move from the first piece to the second, since a poor change of mood or tempo is the commonest weak spot in a pairing class
• Check the rules before choosing: a piece already used in the same player’s solo class should not be repeated here
• Memorise or secure each piece well enough to restart from any phrase, and decide in advance how to recover from a slip without stopping
• Rehearse at least once on an unfamiliar piano, because touch, pedal depth and tone change between instruments
• Play the pair to family or friends two or three times before the day to get used to an audience
• After a disappointing result, read the adjudicator’s comment and work first on the lowest-scoring area, often the second piece

Frequently asked questions

Is Piano Repertoire judged individually or as a team?

Across eTalenter’s templates it’s most often run as an Individual entry, though an organiser can set either participation type when assigning the item to an age group.

Is Piano Repertoire the same as Piano Solo?

No. Piano Solo judges one prepared piece, while Piano Repertoire asks for two own-choice pieces played in one appearance. On the template the solo class is entered by standard, whereas Repertoire is entered by age ceiling.

How long is a Piano Repertoire class?

It depends on the age band: eight minutes for the youngest tiers, nine at eleven and under, ten at thirteen and under, and twelve at fifteen and eighteen and under. The limit covers both pieces together.

Can I play a piece I used in the solo class?

The template’s rules say a piece already used in a solo class should not be repeated in the Repertoire class, so choose two different pieces.

Is it judged individually or as a team?

It is an individual item: one pianist per entry, open to boys and girls together, and marked out of 100.

Want the full judging picture? Read the full instrumental music competition judging criteria guide, or browse every music competition item.