The 26th annual Performing Arts Festival of the Eastside (PAFE) in April will feature nearly 300 instrumental and vocal students participating from pre-school through adults in over 360 performances at Saint Andrews Lutheran Church in Bellevue.

The festival brings college music educators from throughout the Northwest who will judge the performances and grant cash awards from $100 to $500 for outstanding performances.

The top performers in piano, violin, viola, cello, woodwinds, harp and voice divisions will perform in four recognition concerts at 2 and 5 p.m. April 21-22. Each of the concerts features a different set of performers, and each is free to the public.

Each recognition concert also will feature a performance from a guest professional that has had a connection to the festival over the years, such as Arthur Zadinsky, violinist and occasional Concertmaster with the Seattle Symphony, soprano Regina Thomas of Puget Sound Concert Opera, and noted pianist Anastasia Solomatina.

More than 100 movements of major concertos will be heard as well as solo performances.

From the concerto performers in grades 7 through adult, the judges will select winners in each division to perform in the free Concerto Play-Off concert at 7 p.m. April 13. Three concerto adjudicators will then select the three best concerto performers for special cash awards.

All events are at Saint Andrews Lutheran Church, 2650 148th Ave. SE, and are free to the public, though donations to the festival and non-perishable goods to the local food bank will be accepted.

More information is available at www.pafenorthwest.org.