For this 23rd edition of the Valencia Iturbi International Piano Competition, the Provincial Council of Valencia has commissioned composer Sebastián Mariné to write a piece that must be performed by all the pianists who reach the semi-final stage. The commission has a special significance this year, as it is dedicated to those affected by the Isolated High-Altitude Depression (DANA) storm and flooding which hit Valencia.

The composition is entitled Gra (‘grain’, in Valencian) and, as the composer himself explains, “It is a very modest contribution to all those who suffered the extreme violence of the DANA on 29 October 2024 in Valencia. It is luminous, energetic and expressive music. A tiny grain of sand that attempts to convey companionship in the pain of loss, and hope to overcome the terrible tragedy”.

Born in Granada in 1947, Sebastián Mariné studied piano, composition and conducting at the Royal Conservatory of Music in Madrid. Since 2008, he has been President of the Madrid Association of Composers, which organises the Madrid International Contemporary Music Festival. He has received the Claudio Prieto Prize at the National Living Culture Awards and the Medal of Honour from the Reina Sofía School of Music. He has given recitals throughout Europe, America and Asia and performed with leading symphony orchestras. He has premiered concertos for piano and orchestra written for him and is currently a member of the Sonor Ensemble, conducted by Luis Aguirre. In addition to LUX, which includes his own piano works, he has recorded numerous albums with music by composers including Ronald Stevenson, Rafael Rodríguez Albert, Pedro Iturralde, Tomás Marco, Antón García Abril and José María Benavente. Since 1979, he has been a Professor at the Royal Conservatory of Music in Madrid (where he currently conducts the Contemporary Music Group and the Classical Orchestra) and, since its foundation in 1991, at the Reina Sofía School of Music.