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Roberta Savler Piano Contest History and Past Winners

About the Savler Contest

By Junichi Steven Sato, former Contest Chair (September, 2012)

The Roberta Savler Piano Contest, originally known as the Chicago Area Music Teachers Association (CAMTA) Annual Piano Contest, was founded in 1980 by Nancy Ostromencki. Over the years, through various directors and the input of CAMTA members, the Contest evolved and quickly established itself as one of the Chicago area’s largest and most important events of its kind. Students gather every spring to compete for trophies and a performance opportunity. Winner or not, contestants gain invaluable experience and feedback from prominent local musicians. Many of our past winners have gone on to pursue successful careers in music.

As a pianist, teacher, and editor, Roberta Savler (1911–92) touched the lives of many and was loved dearly by practically all who knew her. Grace Olson, who took lessons from her at the Oak Park branch of Sherwood Music School (later Sherwood Conservatory of Music) in the 1930’s recalls her as a kind and patient tutor. According to former Contest Chair Heidi Mayer, Ms. Savler was “extremely intelligent, detail-oriented, actively involved in CAMTA, and seemed very ‘old-school’ when it came to teaching. She was the only teacher I ever knew that would bring a metronome to the [Achievement In Music] exams to make sure the students knew not only the notes and fingering but could actually play up to tempo.”

In 1996, the CAMTA Annual Piano Contest was renamed to honor the late Ms. Savler and her selfless contributions to the organization. Hannah Voigt, a friend of Ms. Savler later in her life and one of several CAMTA members who pushed for this homage, points out that “oddly enough, she really didn’t like contests! But CAMTA, at the time of her death, had no other avenue through which to honor her.” Be that as it may, it was none other than Ms. Savler herself who came to the rescue of Ms. Ostromencki when the latter first introduced the idea of a piano contest at a CAMTA board meeting. “[My idea was rejected] by quite a few of the board, however, Roberta did speak up and told all who were present at the meeting that I should be allowed to give it a try,” she remembers. “If she saw that someone believed in an ideal with their whole heart and would put their whole heart and work into [that ideal,] she would give them her support and urge others to support.” Ultimately, regardless of the philosophies involved about contests, it is only appropriate that Ms. Savler can be honored through what has become CAMTA’s leading program with the help of her fond encouragement.

Ms. Ostromencki, now a resident of Tucson, Arizona, has started a Savler Contest there and is working with CAMTA to coordinate the two events. What the future holds for this collaboration is still uncertain, but it promises to be very interesting.

Past Winners

This is the Savler Contest “Hall of Fame”—a listing of past winners of the Contest. Their performances were considered above others and they have earned their place here through hard work and extraordinary results. Please note that this is not a complete list as we are missing information from earlier years.

Click on a column header to sort that column in ascending order. Click again to sort in descending order. Because of the size of this list, please allow a few moments for the sort to process (this may be a matter of a few seconds or a minute or two depending on your computer). To sort multiple columns (a primary column, then by a secondary column, then by a tertiary column, etc.), sort the last level column first, then work backwards towards the primary column. For example, if you want to sort this table by Teacher, then by Winner, then by Year, click on the Year header first, then Winner, then Teacher. To search, press Ctrl+F on Windows computers or Cmd+F on Apple computers.

*Year-specific notes:

• 1980: It is unclear whether the first contest was held in 1980 or 1981.
• 1983: The divisions were Primary, Junior, Intermediate, and Senior. These are preceded here by Levels A, B, C, and D, respectively to facilitate sorting. Also, teachers of winners were listed separately.
• 1991: No distinction was made between divisions of levels (such as morning and afternoon), if any, in the list of winners.
• 1996: List is incomplete and unverified.
• 2018: Information is from the Winners’ Recital Program; the list here may be incomplete.
• 2019: No distinction was made between divisions of levels (such as morning and afternoon), if any, in the list of winners. Teachers were not listed. It is possible that this data was taken from the Winners’ Recital Program and so the list here may be incomplete. No levels were provided for the Achievement in Music awards (likely the equivalent of honorable mentions).