Picture from left are Jackson Fowler, Madeline DeJoy, Amerasia Miller, Annika Hedin and Andrew Schmidt.

Jackson Fowler, Madeline DeJoy, Amerasia Miller and Annika Hedin, students of area piano teacher Andrew Schmidt, each recently received a distinguished award from the National Guild of Piano Teachers.

Fowler received the Guild’s Paderewski Award. DeJoy, Miller, and Hedin each received the Guild’s Five-Year National Award.

The Paderewski Award signifies that in each of the past 10 years, the student has performed a demanding 10-piece memorized program of piano compositions for a Guild-appointed judge and received a passing grade on repertoire, scales, arpeggios, and cadences. The Five-Year National Award signifies that the student has performed this same feat in each of the past five years. All four students’ pictures will appear in the Winter 2020 issue of the magazine Piano Guild Notes in recognition of their achievements.

Fowler is a 2019 graduate of Falconer High School. The son of Stephen Fowler and Sherri Fowler, he is now entering his Freshman year at Jamestown Community College, where he majors in sports management. His other activities include golf and bowling.

DeJoy is now entering the ninth grade at Jamestown High School. The daughter of Vince and Norma DeJoy, she also plays the violin and French horn. In June she received the Washington Middle School Outstanding Music Student of the Year Award. She also participates in track.

Miller is now entering the ninth grade at Grand Haven High School in Grand Haven, Michigan. A former resident of Lakewood, she now continues her piano lessons with Schmidt via FaceTime. The daughter of Jeffrey and Angel Miller, her other activities include softball and swimming. She also plays the violin.

Hedin is now entering the seventh grade at Southwestern Middle School. The daughter of Neil and Johanna Hedin, her other activities include soccer, lyrical jazz dancing, and tap dancing,

The National Guild of Piano Teachers was founded in 1929, and now holds auditions for more than 100,000 students annually at more than 700 Guild centers throughout the United States, China, and several other countries. At each center, students perform for a Guild-appointed judge who evaluated their performance. Schmidt’s students perform annually at the Guild center located at State University at Fredonia School of Music.