The jury’s decision was not easy after the extraordinary level shown over the last few days by the 20 pianists of 11 nationalities who were hoping to win the Iturbi Prize awarded by the Provincial Council. This makes the triumph of Nabeel Hayek, the 23-year-old who won the 23rd edition of the Valencia International Piano Competition – the most international Iturbi competition with 200 candidates from 40 countries – even more remarkable. Behind Hayek, but equally deserving, were Uladzislau Khandohi, the audience favourite, who won second prize, and Ruggiero Fiorella, who came third.
The three finalists of the Iturbi Competition played on Saturday at the closing gala held at the Teatro Principal, after receiving their awards. At the start of the ceremony, the decision of the jury chaired by Joaquín Achúcarro was announced, following the Grand Final held on Friday evening at the Palau de la Música. “The three pianists who have competed until the very end for the prizes are all winners, because during the competition they have demonstrated unquestionable talent and have thrilled us all at the great piano festival that the Provincial Council has been organising for half a century, and which it will continue to promote with the standards of quality that make the Iturbi one of the world’s greatest piano competitions”, said the Provincial Councillor for Culture, Paco Teruel.
Visibly moved, Joaquín Achúcarro highlighted “the collaboration of the whole of Valencia in keeping this great competition more alive than ever, especially in a year that has not been easy, with a disaster that has put the city and its towns in the spotlight”. The Chairman of the Jury asked for a minute’s silence for the victims of the Isolated High Altitude Depression (DANA) and praised the solidarity of the entire Valencian people. The awards ceremony then began in a packed Teatro Principal. The last to receive his award, from the Provincial Councillor for Culture, Paco Teruel, was Nabeel Hayek, who thanked the organisation, the jury and the city for the recognition in such an important competition as the Iturbi.
Passionate about contemporary music
Nabeel Hayek (Nazareth 2001) holds a bachelor’s degree from the Buchmann-Mehta School of Music, where he studied with Arie Vardi and Asaf Zohar, and a master’s degree from the Juilliard School with Julian Martin. Since 2017, Hayek has been mentored by Murray Perahia. Looking ahead, he will continue his studies to earn a Doctor of Musical Arts Degree at Juilliard. Nabeel is an active chamber musician and collaborative pianist with extensive experience, and continues to expand his repertoire as a soloist with a passion for contemporary and 20th-century music. Hayek has given recitals in Europe, Asia and North America, and has performed for the Arthur Rubinstein International Music Society and the Israel Philharmonic.
Hayek, who will record a CD as the winner of the Iturbi Competition, performed Johannes Brahms’ Piano Concerto No. 1 in the Grand Final, a technically complex work that is essential in the classical repertoire. Earlier, in the final round of the competition with the best six remaining competitors, he chose Ludwig van Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 4. In both sessions, he played alongside the Orquesta de Valencia, conducted by maestro Guillermo García Calvo.
In the early stages of the competition, Nabeel Hayek performed various works of other great composers and played, as a compulsory piece, the score by Sebastián Mariné from Granada, entitled “Gra” in homage to Valencia, which is suffering after the recent DANA. A small tribute by Mariné to the victims, which was joined by the organisers of the competition.
Final table for the 2025 Iturbi
In addition to the podium places occupied by Hayek, Khandohi and Fiorella, who will receive €30,000, €20,000 and €10,000 respectively, as well as taking part in a concert tour as winners of the competition, Spanish pianist Eugenia Sánchez Durán obtained the highest vote from among the candidates who missed out on the Grand Final, for which she will receive €8,000, compared with the €5,000 awarded to Spanish pianist Emin Kiourktchian and Chinese pianist Yungyung Guo, who complete the table of honour as the six best performers in the competition.
As for the special prizes awarded by the Provincial Council itself and the competition’s collaborators, such as the Valencia Philharmonic Society and Kawai, the prize for the best performance of Spanish music went to Emin Kiourktchian, the prize for a work by Chopin to Ruggiero Fiorella, the Mozart sonata to Eugenia Sánchez Durán and the Beethoven concerto – the Kawai prize – to Uladzislau Khandohi. Finally, the best contestant chosen by the audience was Khandohi himself, who will receive another €2,000 from Clemente Pianos in addition to his second prize.
The artistic advisor to the Iturbi Prize, Ana Guijarro, highlighted the youth of the participants, whose average age was much lower than in previous editions of the competition, and thanked “the audience for their warm welcome, both at the concerts with orchestra in the Iturbi Hall, which decided the final result, and at the closing gala in the Teatro Principal, a unique setting to enjoy music and the piano”.
