Auditions for piano teachers guild this week

The annual auditions for the National Guild of Piano Teachers will be at Berggren Recital Hall in the Johnson Fine Arts Center Wednesday (May 8) through Friday.

Sixty students of eight area piano teachers who are members of the organization will audition privately for Mildred Skyberg Juel, an adjudicator for the guild from Brookings.

Jeul is a graduate of the University of Tulsa, Okla., and served as president of Sigma Alpha Iota and is a member of Phi Gamma Kappa, PiDelta Epsilon and Kappa Delta. A native of Canton, Juel has taught piano privately for 35 years and has served as adjudicator for National Guild of Piano Teachers, Bandmaster and Federated Music Clubs, according to a news release.

Additionally, she has performed as accompanist for the students and faculty at South Dakota State University and co-chaired and accompanied community musicals, including “The Medium,” “The Old Maid and the Thief,” “Pirates of Penzance” and “Most Happy Fella.” She has served as president of Aeolian Federated Music Club, Friends of the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra and Brookings Chamber Music Society and has accompanied church choirs and professional vocalists.

Guild auditions have taken place in Aberdeen for more than 50 years, according to a news release. Other participating South Dakota cities include Brookings, Huron, Madison, Milbank, Mitchell, Sioux Falls and Spearfish.

Local chairwoman is Stephanie Raap.