PORTLAND — Amanda Raymond, 17, daughter of Jonathan and Patricia Raymond of North Waterboro, was named the winner of the Ocy L. Downs Piano Prize on March 24 in a competition including seven advanced Maine pianists held at the Portland Conservatory of Music.

Shu Jing Lian of Mechanic Falls was awarded a year’s scholarship to the Karger Scholars program in 2012-13. Nathaniel Vilas of Brunswick won a scholarship along with Raymond to attend the International Piano Festival in June for receiving first and second honorable mentions respectively.

All three scholarships were offered by the conservatory for the first time.

The Ocy L. Downs Piano Prize, begun in 1999, is a biennial competition open to Maine secondary students in memory of a distinguished Portland piano teacher whose career spanned more than 70 years. In keeping with her high expectations, participants are required to memorize major works from the Baroque, classical, romantic and modern piano literature. Also meeting those demands were Kiera Haining of Rockport, Seoyeon Kim of Falmouth, and sisters Eunbin and Yunbin Moon of South Portland.

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