Paloma O'Shea International Piano Competition

The Paloma O'Shea Santander International Piano Competition (in Spanish: Concurso Internacional de Piano de Santander "Paloma O'Shea") is a piano competition taking place in Santander, Spain.[1] Founded in 1972 by Paloma O'Shea as a national prize, it turned into an international competition in its 2nd edition, and was professionalized in the mid-1970s, being accepted into the World Federation of International Music Competitions in 1976.[2]

Organized by the Albéniz Foundation and chaired by the Infanta Margarita and sponsored by a network of civil service and private companies,[3] it arranges an extensive world tour for the winners,[4] including debuts in auditoriums such as the National Auditorium of Music and the Wigmore Hall[citation needed] and cash prizes.[5] The competition takes place in the Palacio de Festivales de Cantabria.[6]

The competition[edit]

Currently, 20 pianists are accepted into the competition through a demanding shortlist of candidates. The competition consists of a preliminary round after a video-based admission round (pre-auditions in Spain, Paris, New York and Moscow), a recital round, a chamber music round, and final concerto round with a symphony orchestra.

Guest artists[edit]

During the last stages of the competition, the participants perform with guest artists and ensembles. Past ensembles include the London Symphony Orchestra, Dresden Philharmonic, Spanish National Orchestra, Madrid Symphony Orchestra, Northern Sinfonia, Scottish Chamber Orchestra, RTVE Symphony Orchestra, Takács Quartet, Ysaÿe Quartet, Quiroga Quartet and the Vienna Chamber Orchestra and conductors Philippe Entremont, Sergiu Comissiona, Miguel Ángel Gómez Martínez, and Jesús López Cobos.[7]

Juries[edit]

Members of the jury have included Josep Colom, Gary Graffman, Federico Mompou, Vlado Perlemuter, Joaquín Achúcarro, Aldo Ciccolini, Nikita Magaloff, Paul Badura-Skoda, Hiroko Nakamura, Fou Ts'ong, Eliso Virsaladze, Elisabeth Leonskaja, Rafael Orozco, Philippe Entremont, Alicia de Larrocha, Dmitri Bashkirov, Dmitri Alexeev, Akiko Ebi, Márta Gulyás and Arie Vardi.[7]

Prize winners[edit]

This is a partial listing of prize-winners of the Paloma O'Shea International Piano Competition.

Year Grand Prize 2nd prize 3rd prize Other
1972 Spain Josep Colom Spain Jesús González Alonso
Honour Certificates
  • Spain Martín Millán
  • Spain Agustín Vergara
1974 Japan Ruriko Kikuchi Spain Jesús González Alonso
Spain José M. Martínez Pínzolas
Spain María T. Berrueta de Rubio
Honour Certificates
  • United Kingdom Susan A. Howes
  • Spain Manuel Quesada
  • Spain María H. Revilla
1975 United States Marioara Trifan United Kingdom Peter Bithell United States Rebecca A. Penneys

4th: France Silvie Carbonel
5th: West Germany Margarita Höhenrieder

1976 Turkey Hüseyin Sermet Czechoslovakia Ivan Klánský Not awarded

4th: Poland Janina Drath

Brazil Paulo E. Gori

5th: Japan Nina Hamaguchi
6th: Marie Sprimont
7th: Czechoslovakia Milan Langer

1977 Egypt Ramzi Yassa United Kingdom Jeremy Atkins
United States David Allen Wehr
Not awarded
Special Prizes
1978 Spain Josep Colom France Frédéric Aguessy Soviet Union Anna Manasarova
4th prize
Other prizes
1980 Not awarded United Kingdom Barry Douglas Romania Dan Atanasiu
Italy Francesco Nicolosi
Antonio Lavín prize
  • Japan Yumiko Maruyama
Ana de los Ríos prize
  • Japan Megumi Umene
Conservatory prize
1982 South Africa Marc Raubenheimer Soviet Union Oleg Volkov France Yves Rault

4th: Hong Kong Alec Chien
5th: France Eric N'Kaoua
6th: Japan Kazuoki Fujii

1984 Republic of Ireland Hugh Tinney Brazil José Carlos Cocarelli Soviet Union Rauf Kasimov

4th: China Fei-Ping Hsu
5th: Argentina Daniel Rivera
6th: United States William Koehler
7th: Soviet Union Nigora Akhmedova
8th: United States Edward Zilberkant
Special prize: Soviet Union Viktor Chernelievsky

1987 United States David Allen Wehr Soviet Union Sergey Yerokhin Germany Bernd Glemser

4th: Soviet Union Pavel Nersessian

China Xiang-Dong Kong

5th: Austria Matthias Fletzberger

Grand Prize Honour Prize Honour mentions Finalist prizes
1990 Not awarded Soviet Union Sergey Yerokhin Netherlands David Kuijken

Italy Brenno Ambrosini
Soviet Union Viktor Lyadov
France Jean-François Dichamp
Spain Claudio Martínez Mehner

Semifinalists diploma

France Isabel Dubuis
Bulgaria Mariana Gurkova
Soviet Union Oxana Rapita
Soviet Union Alexander Sandler
United States Emily White
Spain Marta Zabaleta

1992 Uzbekistan Eldar Nebolsin China Xu Zhong

Germany Markus Groh
Bulgaria Mariana Gurkova
Brazil Eduardo Monteiro
Russia Vadim Rudenko

1995 Not awarded Italy Enrico Pompili

Latvia Armands Ābols
United States Carl Cranmer
Spain Miguel Ituarte
Russia Israel Polina Leschenko
Canada David M. Louie

1998 South Korea Yung Wook Yoo South Korea Jong Hwa Park Bulgaria Plamena Mangova
Laureate prizes
2002 Not awarded Russia Israel Boris Giltburg China Ning An
South Korea Soyeon Lee
Laureate prizes
Grand Prize 2nd prize 3rd prize Audience Prize
2005 Italy Alberto Nosè Germany Herbert Schuch China Jie Chen Italy Alberto Nosè
2008 China Jue Wang Hong Kong Canada Avan Yu Italy Shizuka Susanna Salvemini Hong Kong Canada Avan Yu
2012
0
Not awarded
0
South Korea Ahn Ah-ruem
0
Georgia (country) Tamar Beraia
Hungary János Palojtay
Georgia (country) Tamar Beraia
0
2015 Spain Juan Pérez Floristán South Korea David Jae-Weon Huh China Jianing Kong Spain Juan Pérez Floristán
2018 Ukraine Dmytro Choni China Yutong Sun Russia Aleksandr Kliushko Spain Juan Carlos Fernández-Nieto
2022 Canada Jaeden Izik-Dzurko China Xiaolu Zang FranceJapan Marcel Tadokoro Canada Jaeden Izik-Dzurko

Special prizes[edit]

Year Best Spanish contestant Contemporary music Chamber music Spanish music
1978 Spain María Teresa Berrueta de Rubio
1980 West Germany Martin Doerrie Japan Michiko Tsuda
1982 France Yves Rault France Eric N'Kaoua
1984 Spain Luis Á. Sarobe United States William Koehler United States William Koehler Czechoslovakia Zuzana Paulechová
1987 Spain Jorge L. Otero France Claire Desert France Claire Desert Brazil Clélia Iruzun
1990 Spain Claudio Martínez Mehner Netherlands David Kuijken Soviet Union Viktor Lyadov Bulgaria Mariana Gurkova
1992 Spain Marta Zabaleta Finland Laura Mikkola Russia Tatiana Pavlova China Wi Yu
1995 Italy Enrico Pompili Armenia Armen Babakhanian United States Carl Cranmer

Grant-prizes[edit]

Year
1987 China Xiang-Dong Kong
1990 France Jean-François Dichamp Spain Claudio Martínez Mehner Italy Giorgia Tomassi
1992 Spain Carlos Apellániz Finland Laura Mikkola Ukraine Andrei Zheltonog
1995 United Kingdom Freddy Kempf Russia Israel Polina Leschenko

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ Fundación Sinfonía. "Santander Piano Competition Paloma O'Shea Piano Competition".
  2. ^ "Korea Shines in International Competition". Retrieved 24 November 2015.
  3. ^ "Who are we". Santander Piano Competition. Retrieved 24 November 2015.
  4. ^ "Prizes". Paloma O'Shea Piano Competition. Retrieved 24 November 2015.
  5. ^ World Federation of International Music Competitions. "XVIth "Paloma O'Shea" Santander International Piano Competition". Retrieved 24 November 2015.
  6. ^ Diseño, ITM Edición y. "25 julio al 5 agosto - XIX Concurso Internacional de Piano - Paloma O'Shea - Santander | Palacio de Festivales" (in Spanish). Retrieved 6 June 2018.
  7. ^ a b "Winners, Juries, Orchestras and Guests Artists". Concurso Internacional de Piano de Santander. Retrieved 24 November 2015.

External links[edit]