Still One Month Left to Apply for the 19th Paloma O’Shea Santander International Piano Competition 2018

Still 26 more days do those interested in participating have to apply for the 19^th Paloma O’Shea Santander International Piano Competition. All the pianists born starting on January 1^st, 1986 have the chance to apply and be admitted to audition for this competition established in 1972, which is considered one of the most important ones of the international panorama.

The Preselection auditions will take place from March to April 2018 in Madrid, Moscow, New York and Paris. From here, there will be 20 candidates selected to meet on July 25^th in Santander. Each of them will decide the works they will be performing from the lists of the contest rules, and they will perform according to the order set by toss held that same morning on July 25^th.

This 19^th Competition will have a jury formed by prestigious professionals of ten different nationalities. The Jury is presided by conductor Jesús López Cobos, who was musical director of the Teatro Real Theater; and has as its Vice-Presidents Joaquín Achúcarro -Spanish pianist recognized by UNESCO for his artistic work-, acclaimed Chinese pianist Jian Li, and the American Dean of the Meadows School of Music at Southern Methodist University, Samuel Holland. The other jury members will be Dmitri Alexeev (Russia), Akiko Ebi (Japan), Márta Gulyás (Hungary), Claudio Martínez Mehner (Spain/Germany), Arie Vardi (Israel), Ian Yungwook Yoo (South Korea) and Marco Zuccarini (Italy), director of the G. Verdi Conservatory in Turin. Professor Marta Gulyás will also chair the Pre-Selection Jury, which will include pianists Alexander Kandelaki of Georgian origin, and Luis Fernando Pérez from Spain.

Guest artists for the various stages of next year’s competition will be the Quiroga Quartet and the Spanish Radio and Television Symphony Orchestra, conducted by its head conductor, Miguel Ángel Gómez Martínez.

The winner of the competition and the finalists will receive substantial cash prizes. They will also be granted the opportunity to perform in venues on the international circuit -the perfect base for a solid career launch. In addition, there is a Canon Audience Award, where members of the audience who are watching the Final -either on the actual concert hall or via Internet- can vote for the Audience Award Winner.

During the Final, which will take place in two days, the participants will play along with the RTVE Symphony Orchestra under the baton of maestro Miguel Ángel Gómez-Martínez. Both concerts will be included in the programme of the 67^th International Music Festival of Santander.

Stages of the Competition

• Registration: From the 19^th June to the 13^th November 2017
• Pre-selection: March / April 2018
• First stage: From 25^th to 27^th July, 2018 - 20 participants.Recital
• Semi-final: From July 29^th to August 1^st, 2018 - 12 participants.Recital and chamber music
• Final: 3^rd and 4^th August, 2018 - 6 participants.Concerto with Symphony Orchestra
• Gala Awards Ceremony: 5 August 2018.

Promotional video of the XIX Competition in: https://youtu.be/hksm16ZnpaU

For more information: www.santanderpianocompetition.com

GENERAL SECRETARIAT OF THE COMPETITION
Tel: 34 942 31 14 51
concurso@albeniz.com

PRESS DEPARTMENT, ALBÉNIZ FOUNDATION
Tel: 34 91 523 04 19
prensa@albeniz.com