News
THE PALOMA O’SHEA SANTANDER INTERNATIONAL PIANO COMPETITION DISCLOSES THE NAMES OF THE 20 PARTICIPANTS IN ITS XVII EDITION
Thursday, April 12, 2012
During the press conference held this morning at the headquarters of the Albéniz Foundation in Madrid, the Paloma O’Shea International Piano Competition disclosed the names of the 20 pianists selected to partake in the First Phase of the Competition in Santander, that will be celebrating its XVII edition from July 25 through August 7, 2012 at the Palacio de Festivales de Cantabria. In attendance were Paloma O’Shea, President of the Albéniz Foundation and of the Competition as well as the pianists members of the Jury of the Preselection: Márta Gulyás, president of the Jury, Jenö Nyàri and Luis Fernando Pérez.
The Jury of the Preselection Phase has been auditioning in Paris (March 13-16), New York (March 21-23) and Madrid (April 10-11) to a total of 74 pianists from 24 countries. These candidates were previously selected by the Competition’s Committee among the 150 young musicians educated in internationally renowned schools and pedagogical centers who applied after announcing the celebration of the XVII Santander International Piano Competition.
Selected pianists are:
| NAME | COUNTRY | AGE |
|---|---|---|
| Tamar Beraia | Georgia | 24 |
| János Palojtay | Hungary | 25 |
| Daniele Rinaldo | Italy | 28 |
| Nadezda Pisareva | Russia | 25 |
| Scipione Sangiovanni | Italy | 24 |
| Jenna Sung | South Korea | 26 |
| Ah Ruem Ahn | South Korea | 28 |
| Natalia Tkachenko | Russia | 27 |
| Charlie Albright | United States | 23 |
| Zihui Song | China | 16 |
| Marko Hilpo | Finland | 28 |
| Tae-Hyung Kim | South Korea | 27 |
| Eduard Kiprskiy | Russia | 25 |
| Polina Bogdanova | Russia | 26 |
| Yulia Chaplina | Russia | 24 |
| Samson Tsoy | South Korea | 23 |
| Vladislav Kozhukhin | Russia | 22 |
| Marta Liébana | Spain | 27 |
| Benedek Horváth | Hungary | 23 |
| Marcos Madrigal | Cuba | 28 |
On reserve:
| NAME | COUNTRY | AGE |
|---|---|---|
| Mario Mora Sáiz | Spain | 22 |
| Przemyslaw Witek | Poland | 27 |
| Mizuho Nakada | Japan | 26 |
| Xiaohui Yang | China | 20 |
The Santander International Piano Competition was created in 1972 and is considered as one of the most prestigious worldwide. The XVII edition, to be held from July 25 through August 7 2012 will be dedicated to the memory of the great pianist Alicia de Larrocha who was its Vice President and great supporter of the Competition.
The 20 pianists whose name have been disclosed today will participate in the First Phase of the Competition that will open on July 25 at the Palacio de Festivales de Cantabria with the recitals programme. From July 29, the following invited artists will accompany the pianists: the Casals Quartet for chamber music; for the Mozart Concertos in the Semifinals the Real Filharmonia de Galicia, conducted by Maestro Juanjo Mena, and for the Final that consists in a concert with full orchestra, to be held on August 6, the Madrid Symphony Orchestra (main orchestra of the Teatro Real) under the baton of Maestro Jesús López Cobos.
The task of selecting the participants in each Phase and to assign prizes will be the responsibility of a Jury integrated by prestigious international personalities, presided by Maestro Antoni Ros-Marbà. Other member are: Peter Alward, Luis Pereira Leal, Lorenzo Fasolo, Gary Graffman, Ralf Gothóni, Márta Gulyás, Elisabeth Leonskaja, Oleg Maisenberg, Tomás Marco, Ferenc Rados and Gérard Wyss. The Preselection Jury was composed by Márta Gulyás, Jenö Nyári and Luis Fernando Pérez.
The Santander Competition is endowed with important cash prizes – close to 125,000 euro to be distributed among the First, Second and Third Prizes, Laureate Prizes and Diplomas – but best of all, the Competition offers the winner and finalists a series of performances in prestigious halls worldwide, such a Zankel Hall (Carnegie Hall) in New York. These performances are beyond a starter’s springboard and constitute an initial step forward in a professional career.
The Competition introduces this year an important novelty: this yea is that after the Preselection all phases and concerts may be followed live at www.classicalplanet.com, the classical music website created by the Albéniz Foundation.
For father information:
Press and Communications Department of the Albéniz Foundation.
Telephone: 34-91-523 0419