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I want to get started on a piece for next year against students at my age (will be turning 15). Any suggestions? I don't want to play any Rach, Mozart or Bach and I want to try and stay away from any Chopin etudes, nocturnes and polonaises.
Can any think of a suitable Mazurka by Chopin?
How about something from Liszt? (No Liebestraum)
Brahms? Mendelssohn? Beethoven?

My level is around grade 10 rcm and the piece can't be really long (no longer than 6 minutes)

Thanks a lot in advance

How about a Mendelssohn Prelude and Fugue, or a Charakterstueck? They are good pieces, and there is enough variety there that you might find one you like. It's hard to make recommendations without knowing what your tastes are, so all I can do is point to things which are worth trying. All of Brahms mature works would be acceptable. Beethoven sonatas are too long, as are most of the variations, which leaves very little except maybe some Bagatelles, the Rondos, Andante Favori, and the Rage over the Lost Penny. It's hard to narrow Liszt down, or the Chopin Mazurkas, although you could sample Chopin pretty easily.

Brahms Op. 118#1 or #2, or either one of the Op. 79 Rhapsodies (those might be a bit long, though)

Also consider a Beethoven sonata movement. First mvt. of tempest or Op. 90 come to mind.

The Mendelssohn Rondo Capriccioso is a popular choice for high school pianists, and it's just over 6 minutes long. I can also think of two Songs Without Words that are flashy, short, effective, and fun. The g minor from Op. 53#3 (think revolutionary etude, but a touch easier and more rhapsodic) and the C Major "Spinning Song" Op. 67#4 (very quick, energetic and spirited fingerwork - reminiscent of Mozkowski and pretty tricky to play well!)

For a lesser known but very effective piece, see if you can find Hugo Reinhold's c# minor scherzo (Schirmer publishes it I think.) It's like a miniature Chopin Scherzo and is great fun!

In the 20th century vein, try Ernst Toch's "The Juggler" - it's similar to the Prokofiev Diabolical Suggestion, but not as dark/angry and a bit longer. It's a GREAT encore/showpiece to end a recital or competition program with. (And not overplayed like the Khatchaturian Toccata.)

There are a couple of good Schubert works as well - the 2nd or 4th impromptu from Op. 90 are both excellent. The first Chopin Impromptu is also a fantastic piece that is very unfortunately overlooked in favor of the annoyingly ubiquitous Fantasie-Impromptu.

Have fun choosing repertoire!

I will give you some Liszt-music :-)

Mephisto-waltzer 4: The shortest one. About 3-4 min. Lots of octaves. Fun to play. Not as difficult as the other ones :-)
Leif Ove Andsnes got it on his Liszt recital from 2001...
Andante lagrimoso: From harmonies et poet.. relig.. nr.9. Very pretty piece. The bad thing is that it take maybe 7-8 min to play it. The good thing is that it is easy to learn :-)
Leif Ove Andsnes got it on his Liszt recital from 2001...
Rhapsodie nr.3: One of the shortest rhapsodie by Liszt. Maybe 4 min. Very nice piece. Quite difficult, but not as difficult as the other ones :-)
Nuages gris: A "different" piece on two pages. Take you about 3 min to play. Slow tempo. Tecnically not very difficult, but musically quite difficult. A different piece and intersting to play it.
Unstern and sistern: Also a "different" piece. Maybe a little bit the same as Nuages gris, except that it is longer (5 min) and a little bit more difficult (not very difficult!).
To play Nuages gris first and then Unstern and sistern is good!
Finally I would advice you to take a look at Liszts Condolations. They are all beatiful and short pieces. They are tecnically not very difficult, but need goog musicality to play. (I like best number 2, 3 and 6)

If i were you i would really consider a piece by scriabin, as a miniaturist almost everything he wrote except for the sonatas comes in at or under 6 minutes and there is a huge wealth of excellent music that i think would be within your level...some may be beyond you but certainly not immpossible if you give it a lot of time...
Im learning the Op.8#12 etude in D#minor (Revelutionary etude) and its at the upper limits of my skills (ARCT) but certainly doable and its a fantastic piece that would impress anyone, any of the Op. 43 etudes are great but can be very difficult I tried for a time to learn Op. 43 #5? *(I cant remember the number but the tempo marking in affantanto (breathlessly) its brutally hard, way harder than Op. 8 #12, so I'll have to wait on that one even though its am absolutely amazing piece
he also has a number of poems and other short works that would make for very interesting performance pieces

Thank you all for your replies! I'm looking forward to listening to all of the pieces you mentioned!

I listened to some and really enjoyed three of them..

I found Schubert's Op.90 No.2 impromptu very 'upbeat' and i think its an appropriate piece for this type of 'competition'.

The Liszt Rhapsody No.3 really caught my attention because it sounds so angry/scary (as nearly all of his rhapsody's are) and doesn't sound extremely difficult and its short!

Finally the Scriabin Etude Op.8 No.12! I enjoyed it very much and I was surprised that its one of the lesser-known Scriabin pieces !

I haven't tried any of these composers and I was wondering how difficult they will be to me and possibly how long (estimate) learning these pieces will take? I wouldn't chose the scriabin etude if it would take more than a year =(.
I can't download acrobat so I can't check the score from sheetmusic .

Thanks again!

The op. 8 no. 12 scriabin etude is not one of the lesser-known ones; in fact, it is probably the most well known scriabin piece I would suggest.

How about the Khatchaturian toccata? It is not too hard, it is flashy on the outside and expressive in the middle, and it is not too long. And it is different.

Or Chopin C# minor etude in Opus 25. Not the fast one in Op 10. This is a very beautiful piece, if you are good at slow expressive playing.