From left are Sydney Canfield, Brighton Lumia, Samuel Mincarelli, Madison Smith and Andy Schmidt.

Sydney Canfield, Brighton Lumia, Samuel Mincarelli, and Madison Smith, students of area piano teacher Andy Schmidt, each recently received the Five Year National Award from the National Guild of Piano Teachers.

The award signifies that in each of the past five years, the students have each performed a demanding ten piece memorized program of piano compositions for a Guild-appointed judge and received a passing grade on repertoire, scales, and cadences. Their pictures will appear in the Winter 2023 issue of the magazine Piano Guild Notes in recognition of this achievement.

Sydney Canfield is the daughter of Paul and Alyssa Canfield. An eighth grader at Frewsburg Central School, her other interests include softball, swimming, and the visual arts.

Brighton Lumia is the son of Scott and Jennifer Lumia. A sophomore at Jamestown High School, he also plays French Horn in the marching band and viola in the school orchestra. His other activities include track and basketball.

Samuel Mincarelli is the son of Mark and Barbara Mincarelli. A senior at Southwestern Central School, he also plays violin in the school orchestra. He is an accomplished composer and has attended composition seminars at the Berklee College of Music and the Eastman School of Music. He also serves as a piano accompanist for the annual musical held at Southwestern Central School.

Madison Smith is the daughter of Mark Smith and Cindy Torres. She is a Sophomore at Chatham University in Pittsburgh where she majors in history education. A 2021 graduate of Jamestown High School, she now continues her weekly lessons with Schmidt via FaceTime.

The National Guild of Piano Teachers was founded in 1929 and now holds annual auditions for more than 100,000 piano students at more than 700 Guild centers located throughout the United States, China, and several other countries. Schmidt’s students participate annually at the Guild center based at State University at Fredonia School of Music.