Eighty-eight keys. Twenty-two pianists. There can only be one winner.

The annual Chautauqua Piano Competition is 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Saturday in Sherwood-Marsh Studios. It features the entire 2012 School of Music class and acclaimed guest judges. And it grants the winner $7,500, and second place is $3,000.

“You never know how things are going to play out,” said Rebecca Penneys, piano chair, about the annual event.

It is not so much a competition as it is a creative outlet. The competition was created to give the students a space to push each other musically without a master class structure. But that does not change the fact that the young musicians are in it to give it their all.