- The biennial international competition, organised by the Valencia Provincial Government or Diputació, will take place from 31stMay to 9thJune 2023, with Joaquín Achúcarro as the artistic director and Ana Guijarro as artistic advisor
- Gloria Tello, city councillor for the Iturbi Prize, has stated that “we are opening up a new opportunity for young performers to demonstrate their excellence with international recognition in this call”
Valencia, 22 November 2022
The Iturbi Prize, Valencia’s International Piano Competition, is organised by the Valencia Provincial Government or Diputació. It is now keeping the registration period open until 28 November for its twenty-second edition, which will be taking place in Valencia’s Teatro Principal from 31st May to 9th June 2023, under the artistic management of the prestigious pianist Joaquín Achúcarro. The musical event, held every two years, is an example to follow for performers from all over the world, who have been appearing in the events held since 1981.
The competition’s jury, chaired by Achúcarro, will be very similar to the one for the previous competition and will be made up of Catherine d’Argoubet, Ana Guijarro, Jorge Luis Prats, Menahem Pressler, Didier Schnorhk, Josu de Solaun, Paolo Pinamonti and Barrett Wissman, who will be assessing the contest’s participants.
High level
Gloria Tello, representative for the Iturbi Prize, affirmed that “we encourage participation in this contest, which boasts some excellent winnings, as well as awards, numerous activities and the publicity that helps raise the participants’ and winners’ visibility and boost their artistic careers”. The representative for the Iturbi Prize, who is also Valencia City Council’s Councillor for Culture and President of the Palau de la Música, has underlined that it is “a new opportunity for young performers to take part in an internationally recognised call”.
Joaquín Achúcarro, artistic director for the Iturbi Prize, has enthused that “we are expecting a high turnout judging by the interest that this call has aroused among pianists from all over the world.” The prestigious Basque concert soloist commented that “the organisers are working hard to hold a great event.” For her part, Ana Guijarro, the artistic advisor, also pointed out that “the 22nd Iturbi Award will be bringing together enthusiastic young performers from many countries, who are excited at the chance to display their excellence. “The notable international soloist from Madrid has emphasised that “the competition is an excellent platform for supporting and promoting new values in piano music.”
The call, posted in pianoiturbi.dival.es, is aimed at pianists of any nationality born after 23rd June, 1987. They must provide documentation and an audiovisual recording of between 20 and 30 minutes to be evaluated in a shortlist selection phase by a jury made up of Ana María Guijarro (chair), Carles Marín and Ángel Sanzo (jury members) and Josep Vidal (secretary), head of the Valencia Provincial Council’s Culture Service.
Three qualifying rounds
Once the shortlist has been drawn up, the competition will then have three qualifying heats and the Grand Final. In the first phase (recital) and the second (semi-final), the selected performers must freely choose from amongst the following works: one using counterpoint, Preludes and Fugues from The Well-Tempered Clavier by Johann Sebastian Bach; Preludes and Fugues by Dmitri Shostakovich; Ludus Tonalis by Paul Hindemith; Preludes and Fugues by Felix Mendelssohn; Bach-Ferruccio Busoni; Bach-Ferenc Liszt, etc.; a sonata by Ludwig van Beethoven; a sonata by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart; two short works by Fryderyck Chopin, one of which must be a nocturne; a piece from Goyescas by Enrique Granados, and a piece from the Iberia Suite, Navarra, either La Vega by Isaac Albéniz or Fantasía Bética by Manuel de Falla. Participants cannot repeat works throughout the contest.
The first phase will include the 20 performers who made the shortlist, the second will have 10 competing, the final 6, and the Grand Final only 3. In the latter two rounds, the contestants will perform together with the Orchestra of Valencia, the Palau de la Música’s own ensemble. In the final, they will be able to choose between one of Beethoven’s five concertos for piano and orchestra; and in the Grand Final, they must tackle a concert for piano and orchestra from among those assigned by the organisers from composers such as Chopin, Liszt, Robert Schumann, Johannes Brahms, Piotr Ilich Tchaikovsky, Sergei Rachmaninoff, Joaquín Rodrigo, Manuel Palau and more.
The economic prizes from the previous contest will be maintained, the first prize being endowed with 30,000 euros, the recording of an album and various recitals and concerts; the second with 20,000, and the third with 10,000. The other finalists who do not reach the Grand Final will receive €5,000, while a special award for the best performer of Spanish music is also worth €2,000.
Coll, composer in residence
The contest will again be able to count on a composer in residence who this time will be the Valencian Francisco Coll, commissioned with writing the work Mother—a tribute to Joaquín Sorolla (2022), which must be performed by all of the musicians who reach the second phase.
In the previous edition held in 2021, the jury, which confirmed the artistic quality witnessed in the contest, declared the first prize void and awarded the second prize to Alexei Sichev (Russia) and the third to Salome Jordania (Georgia) and Ryutaro Suzuki (Japan) ex aequo.
2nd Iturbi Piano Festival
The 2022 Iturbi Piano Festival held its second edition from 28th October to 4th November successfully over a week in which a total of 25 noteworthy Spanish and foreign performers took part, performing before 3,500 attendees throughout the nine concerts and recitals free of charge. The audiences were made up of general fans and music buffs who were able to enjoy various proposals performed at different venues around the city of Valencia (Teatre Principal, Palau de les Arts, Centre Cultural la Beneficència and L’Almodí).
The festival began with the Portuguese Maria João Pires, continuing with other Spanish and international piano artists such as Luis Fernando Pérez, Bartomeu Jaume, Xavier Torres, Noelia Rodiles, Carlos Apellániz, Óscar Oliver, Yulianna Avdeeva, Carles Marín, Claudio Carbó, María Linares and Josep Colom, as well as the conductor Manuel Hernández Silva, the harpsichordist Diego Ares, the fortepianist Antonio Simón, and other prestigious musicians and teachers from the Orquestra de València.
The Valencia Provincial Government is thus continuing to provide a biennial festival under the artistic management of Justo Romero, taking place in even-numbered years and alternating with the Iturbi Piano Competition, which will be taking place in odd-numbered years. In addition, this year from 6th May to 23rd October, the Iturbi Recital Cycle held a total of eleven concerts in Rome, Toulouse, Valencia and in cities and municipalities in the province of Valencia such as Gandia, Chiva, Xàtiva and Sagunto, given by the winners of the previous edition: Salome Jordania, Ryutaro Suzuki and Zifan Ye.
The Iturbi Project works along three strategic lines: promoting the talent of young pianists from all over the world by boosting awareness of them and their artistic career with the competition; hosting leading musicians within the festival programme; and appreciating the prestige and musical legacy of José Iturbi (Valencia 1895 ¬¬– Los Angeles 1980), paying ongoing tribute to him.
