66TH INTERNATIONAL MusIc cOMpETITION

Barcelona

Mariacanals

pREss KIT JuNE 2021

www.MARIAcANALs.cAT

fROM THE 3RD TO THE 15TH Of JuLy 2021

pALAu DE LA MúsIcA cATALANA

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The new edition of the Maria Canals Barcelona International Music Com-petition has been long in coming. Beyond the restrictions due to the health crisis, we had to be faithful to the founding values of its founder, pi-anist and pedagogue Maria Canals i Cendrós, and will finally celebrate the 66th edition from July 3rd to July 15th at the Palau de la Música Catalana.

In the early fifties, thanks to her vision-ary spirit, Maria Canals identified the need for her piano students at the Ars Nova Academy to become acquainted with other piano schools and embrace open and advanced views on piano practice. Consequently, she founded the piano competition in 1954; and today, 67 years later, it is more alive than ever. She clearly understood that, if Barcelona wasn’t going to influence the world, then the world would have to meet in Barcelona.

That’s why the city has been a part of the Maria Canals Competition DNA since its early days, and from then on, there has been a desire to fill the streets with pianists and turn the competition into a city event. Following this trend, the Associa-tion has increased its social aware-ness, which has materialized in the creation of a strategic educational, informative, and social line that we know as the OFF Competition. In this way, the Maria Canals has been, since its very beginnings, an essen-tial agent that adds value to this

imaginative and creative Barcelona. Today we promote many initiatives and are an essential focus of interna-tional attraction.

The greatest lesson that we have learned from the situation and that has made us stronger is to be aware of our fragility and contingency. After 66 consecutive years of organ-izing the competition without in-terruption, we had to wait for inter-national mobility to resume so that the 57 pianists from 22 different countries could display their talent in the modernist building. The Com-petition stills nourishes the dream of many young pianists: to pursue a career following their passion. And we will be there to experience it in a cool summer edition open for new audiences to participate, with a special emphasis on young pianists, perhaps still in training, who must study in March but can now come in shorts to attend the rounds and en-richen the notes on their own scores. Because one of the great values of the Competition is fostering true pi-ano practice of the great repertoire that any pianist, whatever his artis-tic inclination in terms of style or technique, must have. We promote excellence and professionalism in the world of piano without ceasing to persevere in making music acces-sible to everyone, embracing all mu-sical styles and the different ways of playing the instrument through the OFF Competition.

This last year, the Maria Canals vir-tue of interpreting the present and offering solutions has become more apparent than ever. True to its es-sence, the Competition tries to adapt to the new times by embracing the tools that make processes more ef-fective and the communication with the public more meaningful. For this reason, its intrinsically innova-tive character takes on the new tech-nological challenges and commits to tools that allow us to enjoy music more openly and freely.

We hope to find you at the Petit Palau enjoying the best piano repertoire in the hands of enthusiastic and artis-tically restless talents, who during the Competition experience one of the most significant events of their lives. The highlight of the event will take place on July 15th at the concert hall of the Palau de la Música Cata-lana, where three pianists selected by the prestigious jury will offer a musical and visual display, with new approaches to the great piano concertos that renowned musicians perform in worldwide auditoriums. This is what we hope that our con-testants will achieve.

A fREsH AND suMMERy MARIA cANALs cOMpETITION

The contest revisits its essence and reformulates it for the present times

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Tradition will be a feature in this ye-ar’s edition to remind us where we come from, but we have also adapted the event to modern times, striking a balance between preserving some ingredients of 2020 while being open to new inertias. Without giving up on the key principle of contestants

attending the rounds in person, every other non-artistic aspect of the Competition has been dealt with online. This not only ensures a safer competition, but also a more advan-ced and effective one. The ceremo-nial element has been cut down to emphasize the intrinsic value of mu-

sic, so that the 57 contestants can be evaluated with the utmost rigor and neutrality, but also from a more mo-dern perspective and through up-to-date procedures.

THE 66 cOMpETITION IN JuLy 2021

With the desire to make the dream of young pianists of living off their passion

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Loyal, committed and talented contestants

THE cONTEsTANTspREss KIT

2usAVincent IpKeona Rose

1fRANcEJosquin Otal

2GEORGIASandro GegechkoriTamar Makharadze

1GREcEDimitris Daskalakis

2IRELANDEoín FlemingCahal Masterson

1IsRAELItamar Prag

4ITALyMatteo BevilacquaNicolo Ferdinando CafaroRuben MicieliTiziano Rossetti

5JApANMotoshi MiyazatoRei NaitoSaya OtaGenki TakaiYuna Tamogami

3LITuANIARobertas LozinskisIgnas MaknickasMantas Sernius

1MALAysIAJulian Chan

1pOLANDMichal Mossakowski

1pORTuGALRafael Kyrychenko

6RussIAAndrei BulatovMikhail KanMaria KhokhlovaNikolai KuznetsovBi ShinArtur Vorozhtcov

3TAIwANZu-An ShenChia-Ying (Bella) Tang

1TuRKEyIzem Gürer

1uKRAINEGalyna Gusachenko

8cHINA, p.R.Hin Sing AuShengye ChengYijia LinZiming RenWenting ShiPeiyao SuZifan YeYue Zhang

1GERMANyElias Opferkuch

1BuLGARIAKaliya Kalcheva

2cANADAAaron ChowFelix Hong

4KOREAKisuk KwonMiyeon LeeSunhyun ParkMinhyuk Song

7spAINÁlvaro Baltanás MeliveoManuel CasaresCarlos de la Blanca ElorzaMaria Escudero RañaMagí Garcías FrauMilena MartínezJuan Mas ChoclánGorka Plada Girón

We wanted the contestants who were selected for the 2020 edition to have the opportunity to compete, based on the idea that the Competition had been postponed but not canceled, and that we are organizing the 66th edition in our 67th year of existence. Our goal has been for the contestants who had to perform at the Palau de la Música in March 2020 to finally come this July. We particularly appreciate

the loyalty of these 57 contestants who will arrive in Barcelona to show talent, commitment, perseverance and personal improvement.

Seven Spanish contestants will perform in this edition. We are de-lighted by this fact and realize that, beyond being attractive internatio-nally, with China and Russia as the countries with the most contestants,

the Maria Canals Competition is still attractive to local talents. Since the contestants are one year older than when they registered, the ave-rage age has slightly increased from 24.5 to 25 years old, with an excepti-onal maximum age of 30 and a mini-mum of 19.

It will be the most experienced com-petition in recent years.

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cARLOs cEBROuRuGuAy / fRANcECarlos Cebro, born in Montevideo, studied with Eliane Richepin and completed his studies in Paris with Vlado Perlemuter from whom he inherited his music and his grand piano. Winner of many international competiti-on prizes, he has performed worldwide with chamber music ensembles and orchestras under the baton of con-ductors such as Jacques Bodmer, Gustav König, Lazlo Halasz o Antonio Vito. He has been an accompanist for renowned singers, such as Arleen Auger, Rita Streich or George London, among others, at the Salzburg Festival while he worked for the Mozarteum over a long period of time. He has served as a jury member in several in-ternational piano competitions and has taught master classes in Europe, Asia and America. He has made many recordings. President of the “Eliane Richepin Associa-tion”. Artistic Director and President of the Jury of the Maria Canals International Music Competition in Bar-celona. He was awarded Chevalier dans l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres by the Ministry of Culture of the French Governement.

RAMON cOLLcATALONIA / spAIN Born into a family of musicians, Ramon Coll studied in Paris with Vlado Perlemuter and Lelia Gousseau. In 1989 he founded a chamber ensemble together with Gonçal Comellas and Marçal Cervera. He has perfor-med with the most renowned orchestras under the baton of conductors such as Kyrill Kondrashin, Antoni Ros-Marbà, Salvador Brotons and Esa-Pekka Salonen. He has been a professor at the Seville Music Conserva-tory, at the Liceu Music Conservatory and currently co-llaborates with the Barcelona Municipal Music Conser-vatory and the Palma de Mallorca Music Conservatory. Jury member of several international competitions. He has made several recordings, including Xavier Mont-salvatge’s complete piano works.

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An intergenerational jury having parity of composition

THE JuRyUnder the artistic direction of Car-los Cebro, who is also the President of the jury, most of this year’s mem-bers are professionals who were al-ready invited in 2020. Pianists Alba Ventura and Ramon Coll, belonging to two different generations, are the

Catalan representatives in the com-petition. Meanwhile, Mladen Tcho-litch, winner in 2007, and Alexander Moutouzkine, winner in 2002, will be the scrutinizing eyes with a better understanding of the context. The seven members, plus the secretary of

the jury, Mrs. Montse Brunet Agustí, make up a jury having parity of com-position that combines the voices of several generations.

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ALExANDER MOuTOuzKINERussIA / uNITED sTATEs

The winner of many renowned competition awards, Rus-sian-American pianist Alexandre Moutouzkine claimed top prizes at the international competitions in Naum-burg, Cleveland, Montreal, New Orleans, Panama, Va-lencia, Barcelona and Tel Aviv. In 2009, he won the Astral Artists National Auditions. He has appeared as a soloist with more than 60 orchestras, including the Berliner Philharmoniker, Brno Philharmonic Orchestra of the Czech Republic, Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, Cleve-land Orchestra, and Radiotelevision Orchestra of Spain. Alexandre Moutouzkine holds master and postgradua-te degrees from Manhattan School of Music, where he studied with Solomon Mikowsky. A. Moutouzkine is a frequent guest faculty member at many renowned festi-vals, and he has also judged numerous competitions, in-cluding the Bartok Piano Competition (Budapest), New Orleans International Piano Competition, and Panama International Piano Competition. Most recently he re-ceived an Artist of the Season Award from Chamber Mu-sic International in Dallas. In 2017 the WRTI network listed his “Piano Music of Cuba” (Steinway & Sons) as one of the top 10 classical music recordings of that year. A. Moutouzkine received the Distinguished Alumni Award from Manhattan School of Music, where he was appoin-ted its faculty member in 2013.

EwA OsINsKApOLAND Born in Poland, Ewa Osinska gradu-ated from the Academy of Music in Warsaw. She later received the Diplo-ma from the Conservatoire Europeen in Paris, where she studied with ma-estro Vlado Perlemuter and Suzanne Roche. Prize-winner at international piano competitions such as Concurso de Jaén and Alfredo Casella in Naples,

she has performed in the most prestigious venues in Eu-rope: Salle Pleyel, Theatre des Champs Elysees, Gaveau, Wigmore Hall, Queen Elisabeth Hall, Warsaw Philhar-monic, Leipzig Gewandhaus, Moscow Rachmaninow Hall, as well as in Japan and the USA. She has perfor-med with leading orchestras such as Poland’s National Philharmonic Orchestra, The BBC Orchestra and the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, among others, under the baton of conductors such as Semkow, Maksymiuk, Kaspszyk, Akyiama, Plasson and Woodsworth. She has been a jury member at several international competiti-ons. E. Osinska has recorded Chopin’s integral work for piano, among many other recordings. She has received the Medal of Merit for the Polish Culture from the Presi-dent of Poland, the Knight’s Cross of the Order of Polo-nia Restituta, and France’s Ordre du Mérite Artistique and the Chevalier de l’Ordre International des Arts.

MLADEN TcHOLITcH

sERBIA / fRANcE Trained in the Serbian and Russian tradition at the Aca-demy of Arts in Serbia, Mla-den Tcholitch moved to Pa-ris, where he graduated from the Conservatoire National de Musique et Danse in Paris studying with Jacques Rou-vier. After winning the first prize at the Maria Canals In-ternational Music Competi-tion in Barcelona, at the Jaen International Competition, and at the Sergei Rachma-ninoff, he began his international career performing in Europe and Asia, offering recitals and performing as a soloist with the Orquestra Simfònica de Barcelona i Na-cional de Catalunya, the Orquesta Ciudad de Granada, the Voyvodina Symphonic Orchestra and the Shenzhen Symphony Orchestra, among others. He currently forms a piano duo with his wife, French pianist Prisca Benoit, and their first CD of the two Mozart concertos for two pianos and orchestra will be released soon. Passionate about pedagogy, Tcholitch is a piano professor at the Ge-neva Music Conservatory and has been a jury member in several international competitions. He has made several recordings for Naxos, including a selection of sonatas by Father Antoni Soler, as well as recordings for Radio

France, Catalunya Música and Novi Sad Radio Television. Tcholitch is the founder and president of the "Genève Musicale" As-sociation, which aims to discover and help young pianists through different initiati-ves, such as an international piano compe-tition that will take place in 2022.

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ALBA VENTuRAcATALONIA / spAIN Born in Barcelona, she made her soloist debut at the age of 13 with the Cadaqués Orchestra and Sir Neville Marriner, in San Sebastian and at the National Music Auditorium in Madrid. Since then, her career as an in-ternational soloist has grown steadily with invitations to play in the best European concert halls. She has been conducted by personalities such as Giovanni Antonini, Howard Griffiths, Miguel Harth-Bedoya, Christopher Hogwood, Salvador Mas, Eiji Oué, Antoni Ros Marbà

and Tamas Vasary, and has collaborated with impor-tant orchestras and chamber ensembles. She studied at Marshall Academy and received master classes from Alicia de Larrocha. After an audition in Berlin, Vladimir Ashkenazy took over her musical development by beco-ming her tutor and arranging her studies with Profes-sor Irina Zaritskaya at the Purcell School in the United Kingdom, and later at the Royal College of Music. She has received master classes from Nikita Magalof, Maria João Pires and Radu Lupu. She won the International Auditions of the Young Concert Artist Trust (YCAT). In the 2009-2010 season, she was selected as the only solo pianist by the Rising Stars program promoted by ECHO (European Concert Hall Organization). She is currently a tenured lecturer at the Liceu Music Conservatory.

uTA wEyANDGERMANy German pianist Uta Weyand studied with Elza Kolodin, Leon Fleisher, Vitaly Margulis and Joaquín Soriano in Germany, United States and Spain. In addition to being awarded a scholarship by the German government for her postgraduate studies, she won the first prize in the Iturbe International Piano Competition in Valencia, and the Steinway Piano Competition in Berlin. She was also awarded with a special prize: best music performer of contemporary Spanish music. Since 1989, Uta Weyand offers recitals and concerts with orchestras in most Eu-ropean Union countries, as well as in Russia, Brazil, Uni-ted States and Cuba. She performs with great orchestras and collaborates with directors such as Jesús López Co-bos, José Ramón Encinar, Enrique García Asensio, Ma-nuel Galduf, Jac van Steen and Gabriel Chmura, among others. She combines her regular concert activity with pedagogy, conducting master classes in conservatories and universities in Europe, United States, China, Japan, Singapore and South America. Many renowned interna-tional piano competitions feature Uta Weyand as a ju-ror, such as Franz Liszt in Weimar and Hamamatsu in Japan, among others. She received worldwide acclaim for her recordings of the Complete Works by Manuel de Falla. Uta Weyand is a founder of the PIANALE International Academy & Competition and promo-ter of the concert series Schlosskonzerte Osthes-sen in Germany.

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The 2021 Competition has the same structure of recent years as well as the repertoire to be performed in each round until the Grand finale. Rehearsals are a great opportunity for all music and piano lovers to enjoy the instrument’s great repertoire: most of it isn’t perfor-med in concert halls, much less in such a concentrated and intense way, in the hands of such fresh and mo-dern talent. Bach and Beethoven will sound from 57 different perspectives, sensibilities and experiences that we hope that young local pianists, especially those who are still in training, will take a moment to enjoy. In the summer they have more free time than in March to come with their scores, in flip flops and boardshorts, to write notes and comments on the stave. The compe-tition makes a special effort to invite these piano stu-

dents who would like to pursue a professional career, understanding that rehearsals are a unique opportu-nity to measure their talent against contestants from all over the world. We invite you to feel the true beat of the competition, following the spirit that Maria Canals herself inspired in the founding principles, which was to enrichen the experiences of her own students.

Tickets for the rounds and the grand finale can be purc-hased on our website mariacanals.cat

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The true heartbeat of the contest at the Palau de la Música Catalana

THE ROuNDs AND THE GRAND fINALE

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sEMIfINAL

Petit Palau

11 JuLy 202110 am / 5 pm

Morning or afternoon session

10 EuROs

fIRsT ROuND

Petit Palau

4 JuLy 2021 5 pm

5 / 6 JuLy 2021 10 am / 5 pm

7 JuLy 2021 10 am

Morning or afternoon session

5 EuROs

sEcOND ROuND

Petit Palau

8 JuLy 202110 am / 5 pm

9 JuLy 2021 10 am / 5 pm

Morning or afternoon session

5 EuROs

The ending time of the eliminatory rounds will depend on

the final number of contestants.

fINAL

Palau de la Música Catalana

14 JuLy 20218 pm

JONc Manuel Valdivieso Conductor

Stalls35 / 25 EuROs

1st floor35 / 25 / 20 EuROs

2nd floor20 / 15 / 10 EuROs

Organ’s Gallery20 EuROs

fIRsT ROuND Technical excellence and the great composers

The first round of the Competition, which this year will take place at the Petit Palau between July 4th and July 7th, is a hard test. All contestants must perform a prelu-de and fugue from Johann Sebastian Bach’s Well-Tem-pered Clavier and a Beethoven sonata like the ones we heard in Montjuïc at the marathon in early June. This first performance is completed with a great romantic étude to choose from Chopin, Liszt, Debussy, Rachma-ninov or Scriabin. We expect the contestants to show their technical skills with the piano works of the great composers which, in fact, date from the 19th century with the invention of the pianoforte, although Bach’s counterpoint and harmonic depth is indispensable for the jury.

sEcOND ROuND Versatility and great works of the repertoire

After the first-round results, the contestants who achi-eve the best score are summoned on July 8th and 9th to perform a romantic work by essential composers such as Brahms, Chopin, Frank, Liszt, Rachmaninov, Schubert, Schumann, as well as contemporary works of free choi-ce, one by a composer born at the end of the 19th century and another work composed after 1995. This time span brings great variety to the program and, therefore, the contestant’s ability to be versatile and technically and expressively adapt to different compositional techni-ques is tested.

sEMIfINALArtistic depth

Only the top 6 reach the semi-final. On July 11th a true marathon will take place where the most successful pia-nists will have forty minutes to prove their interpretative nuances, personality and artistic depth. They will have to perform a Spanish piece and at least one piece of free choice to reveal their true interests. The jury will select three contestants to perform in the Grand finale.

GRAND fINALECharisma

The Grand finale is a true celebration. Despite the signi-ficant challenge of playing in a concert format with an orchestra, the JONC —given the age of the contestants, it is likely to be their first time—, it is still an event to show aspects beyond the strictly musical: presence and attitude, the ability to communicate with the orches-tra and the audience, the elegance and poise in one of the most emblematic venues in Europe. Therefore, on July 14th, the jury, the audience and the student’s jury will test the artistic pulse and charisma of the finalists with the performances of piano concertos by compo-sers such as Beethoven, Chopin, Ravel, Brahms, Schu-mann, Prokofiev, Rachmaninov, and Tchaikovsky’s pi-ano concerto number 1, one of the most emblematic of this event where, finally, we will get to know the three winners of the main prizes offered by the Fundació Je-sús Serra, the Fundació Carulla and the Fundació Lluís Coromina.

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Young musicians for young pianists

JONcThe Jove Orquestra Nacional de Catalunya has performed in the grand finale of the Maria Canals International Mu-sic Competition since 2015. It was founded in September 1993 and its objective from day one has been to offer a comprehensive orchestral training for young musicians and to actively assist in their employability by offering a high-quality cultural product and bringing music to all audiences with a clear social and pedagogical vocation.

Made up of musicians aged between 19 and 25, it is the ideal orchestra to connect with our finalists and gene-ration peers, as its musicians share the same passion for music and the same desire to pursue a career in the most prestigious auditoriums, facing the brightest music stands. This year the orchestra will perform under the baton of its in-house conductor, Manel Valdivieso.

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Prize ceremony

A fINAL AcKNOwLEDGMENT

After more than ten intense days, it is time to celebrate and honor the winners. The day after the Grand finale, on July 15th, the Saló de Cent of the Barcelona City Council hosts the prize ceremony, a tribute from the whole city to the effort of the winners, to the jury and to prize donors,

who are essential to make this piano event possible. The prize ceremony brings the Competition to an end until the next 67th edition in 2022.

pRIzE DONORsCommitment, loyalty and perseverance

The competition offers more than 80.000 euros worth in prizes, including the main prizes, the special prizes, the concert prizes and the Naxos prize, which consists in the recording of works by Father Antoni Soler. The Competi-tion would like to sincerely thank the perseverance of all the prize donors who, despite the difficult circumstan-ces, have not withdrawn their support and continue to make sure that enough tools are available for the talen-

ted contestants, aware that their contribution in funds or resources are crucial to encourage these young and prepared pianists —who have shown commitment and perseverance in their training and during the Compe-tition—, and help them make their dream come true, which is to pursue a career as pianists, following their passion.

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THE Off, MORE sOcIALA classic OFF Competition puts the cap on a year of commitment

This year, the OFF Competition squeezes its essence to illuminate the 66th Competition, which has been long overdue to be true to its founding principles. Lately, most of the Maria Canals Association activities have focused on the OFF Competition initiatives with the greatest so-cial impact.

THE EssENTIALs Of A DIffERENT yEARThe main activity of the competition during the last year has been its informative, educational, and social line, with the It’s my turn! social project playing a major role. Every year, together with the Fundació Jesús Serra, we offer scho-larships to a hundred children from neighborhoods with high social vulnerability in Barcelona, Seville and Madrid. Meanwhile, the Learning with Maria Canals initiative is still committed to all children of formal and informal edu-

cation schools. We have also been able to enjoy the pianos on the street with El Maria Canals “Porta Cua” initiative, but currently with a much more developed social side, as the pianos were stationed in ten primary care centers of each Barcelona district around Easter, and our link with hospitals is increasingly more intense.

The popular Can you play? initiative has also been pre-served. With the hashtag #johitoco, it promotes piano practice regardless of the age, gender, music preferences and social circumstances. That’s why we invite everyone who plays the piano to record themselves and, above all, to explain what this means to them. The nearly 200 con-testants in this year's edition have uploaded their home video to the Player’s Gallery. The jury evaluates three aspects of each video: the most original reason that pus-

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hed the participant to play the piano; the number of vi-sits; and the best edition and performance. The goal is not to show or promote virtuosity but to assert musical practice in accordance with the prevailing technological, social and cultural trends. On the weekend of June 12th and June 13th, the winners enjoyed their prize and played the grand piano of the Palau de la Música Catalana, a much-anticipated event for many students and individu-als who are already a part of our family.

To start-off the long-awaited July competition, the Maria Canals held the Beethoven Piano Sonata Marathon in June. The coproduction between the Maria Canals and Barcelona Obertura Spring Festival has premiered the most emblematic complete sonatas of the piano reper-toire, performed by 11 pianists in 10 concerts that have taken place in the Mies van der Rohe Pavilion, the Nati-onal Art Museum of Catalunya, the Caixa Forum and the Fundació Miró, hosting the talents of Marc Serra, Noelia Rodiles, Marta Puig, Maria Canyigueral, Mario Mora, Victor Braojos, Juan Barahona, Eudald Buch and Marc Heredia, who will close the anniversary at the Liceu Con-servatory with a special Maria Canals concert starring Jorge Nava, sixth prize of the 65th edition in 2019, and Regina Chernychko, first prize of the 60th Competition.

THE cELEBRATION AwAITING IN JuLyThe Maria Canals resumes the most emblematic mo-ments of the OFF Competition that announce the arrival of the contestants and the celebration of the rounds after which the prizes to the best contestants will be awarded. These are classic events that concentrate all citizen par-ticipation in very special moments that already belong to the essence of the competition and its relationship with the city of Barcelona.

MARATHON IN pLAçA REIALOn July 2nd the traditional Marathon in Plaça Reial will take place for students and piano lovers. It is a celebration full of music and colors that brings together music lovers and passersby who want to experience the atmosphere in the emblematic square with a renewed enthusiasm.

10 pIANOs IN pAssEIG DE GRàcIAThe most spectacular moment, however, takes place on July 3rd with the 10 pianos stationed on Passeig de Grà-cia, an event held in collaboration with the Fundació Je-sús Serra. A dozen grand pianos are available for passers-by and piano lovers between Carrer Casp and Jardinets de Gràcia. It is a day of joy and surprises, anticipation, and enjoyment in which piano students from several sc-hools turn the floral patterns of the Eixample tiles into their own stage to play the best grand pianos. A luxury available to everyone since the competition perseveres in breaking down social, physical, and mental barriers to dismantle the cliché that the grand piano is only to be played by the most virtuous and talented hands on the most lavish stages.

OTHER Off cOMpETITION cLAssIcsOn July 11th, coinciding with the semi-final at the Petit Palau, one of the contestants will offer a recital at Restau-rant 7 Portes, where the traditional aperitif takes place. This year, thanks to the historic restaurant’s creativity and commitment, the tradition of creating a Maria Ca-nals Dessert for the clients to enjoy during the Competi-tion will recommence with a mouth-watering ice cream, particularly in hot weather. On the same day, passersby will have the chance to play the piano in the historical setting of El Born CC. Finally, on the 16th, one of the pri-ze-winning contestants will offer a recital in Teià.

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A HuNDRED-yEAR-OLD wORKsHOpStrict tradition is often used by in-novation. The presentation of the July edition was held at Jaume Bar-

mona’s Forte Piano Workshop, in the heart of the Gracia neighborhood (carrer Virtut, 13). The works-hop and the compe-tition share a great appreciation for the musical instrument, not only for the physi-cal object but for the thorough methods and the interpretative and sonorous superi-or quality hunt. More-

over, the piano designer claims a his-toric link between both institutions: “At the turn of the twentieth century, more than twenty piano factories and workshops existed in Barcelona toget-her with a huge number of suppliers, from iron and steel ones, to textile, tanning or varnishing. Piano manu-facturing ranked fourth among the contributors to the Catalonian GDP.In the 20s, the elation of Modernism, the last changes shaping the Eixam-ple, the leisure time available for the Barcelona middle class and, above all, the influences coming from the North —Catalonia mirrored the European culture in focal points such as Paris, Hamburg or London— encouraged piano playing. Great pianists such as Granados and Malats contributed to this boom, which became an ad-vertising tool for some factories, and prepared an ideal hotbed to foster a cultural, artistic and musical atmos-phere within the country. This is when music schools were founded, pushing

teachers, pianists and pupils into an open musical atmosphere of which both the Maria Canals Competition and the Forte Piano Workshop can be considered heirs. I collected my father’s legacy, who was a qualified worker in the Chassaingne Freres Barcelona piano factory, and Maria Canals founded the Ars Nova School following the steps of Enric Granados and the Barcelona piano school.Both the Maria Canals Competition and my Forte Piano Workshop con-sider ourselves as followers of that full swing piano making and piano playing trend, when craft and art went hand in hand for more than one cen-tury, united by the most perfect music instrument: the piano”.

GETTING BEHIND cuRRENT cREATIONThe 66th edition pledges to the cre-ation of a new piano repertoire that perhaps someday will become ca-non and be a part of the Competi-tion’s repertoire. On this occasion, the eight-hand piano work by Manel Burgos de Rosa has been premiered and performed by the duo Vela and the duo Pérez.Deadline Scherzo, for eight hands and two pianos, is the result of pia-nist and professor Ester Vela’s sug-gestion to be a part of the chamber music program at the Conservatori Municipal de Barcelona. According to the composer: “Its uniqueness lies in the rare piano works for four players and two pianos and aims to show this kind of musical ensemble’s polyphonic ability and sound power. The work conveys the urgency of of-ten having to chase milestones and

meet deadlines, with all the emotio-nal strain this entails. This work be-gins with an intense and sort of Slavic gallop presto developing themes in a rhapsodic manner. Tension builds up until the final reexposition, where the gallop clears the way to a slow and infernal dance reflecting a relentless misfortune”. Manel Burgos admits that it has been quite a challenge not only to compose this work, but also to prepare the score layout to ease pi-ano performance.

The 66th Maria Canals Barcelona Competition has come up with an original and creative idea, in line with its modern spirit, and has changed the knife and fork of the Restaurant 7 Portes for the black and white keys of Jaume Barmona’s Forte Piano Workshop, with a surprising world premiere of a work for eight hands by composer Manuel Burgos de la Rosa, performed by the duo Vela and the duo Pérez Molina. The event, which combines craftsmanship

and piano innovation, was streamed online and can be seen again on the Competition’s website.

A pREsENTATION BETwEEN TRADITION

AND MODERNITy

Public recogni-tion of Ortiz and Cussó fabric to Barmona Taller. © Foto Jaume Barmona.

Rehearsal of the absolute premiere of 'Deadline Scherzo' by Duo Vela

and Duo Pérez Molina

JUne 2021 15

pREss KIT cOMpETITION

ART AND TEcHNOLOGyMaria Canals has been a pioneer in innovation for many years, both in the search for new formats and ways of disseminating music practice as well as in using technology to achie-ve this goal. The rounds at the Petit Palau have been streamed for a de-cade now to make sure that all the pianists in the world can enjoy the contestant’s talent and we have been fostering for years the You can play! competition, by which piano lovers record a video, upload it on Youtube and the video is evaluated to reward aspects such as the motivation to play the piano, the engagement on social networks and the best and more attractive video editing. Last year, when musicians from around the world took to Facebook and Ins-tagram to upload their music online, the Competition adapted the traditi-onal hashtag #johitoco for #johito-coacasa. However, the general idea remained unchanged.

A MORE ATTRAcTIVE wEBsITEThis year we had to take a step forward at a time when the whole world has been updating and adap-ting to the online format. Therefore, the Maria Canals has launched a new website: more modern, closer to the user and with an improved browsabi-

lity, where qualitative content is en-couraged and with a greater capacity to appeal to everyone, with special attention to social impact, emotions and enjoying music. The website is in three languages: Catalan, Spanish and English, and you can visit it here: www.mariacanals.cat.

The rounds at the Palau, for everyoneOn the other hand, the concept of streaming has been reformulated to increase the artistic quality thanks to technical innovations and impro-vements in the tools and methodo-logies that have revolutionized the world in the last twelve months. Our commitment to audiovisuals is firm, from the presentation on June 16th to the rounds, the grand finale and the prize ceremony. In addition to streaming each round of the Com-petition on the Youtube channel that can be accessed through the broad-casting headline of the website, in the media section, we are also com-mitted to streaming the competition through other channels such as Face-book, Instagram TV or Vimeo, since they are extremely popular among younger generations. We need to come closer to people and make the Competition even more open, dyna-mic and popular.

sMALL cHANGEs TO ADApT TO pREsENT TIMEs Certain traditional events that used to define the Competition, such as the welcoming of the contestants in the Rehearsal Hall of the Orfeó Català on the Saturday before the first round, through a charming but ineffectual allocation system, are now much more effective and safe with an online meeting and the use of an online application to assign a number to each contestant in a completely neutral, transparent and unequivocal way, avoiding the un-necessary crowds in cases where the artistic product is not involved.Thus, the traditional ballot papers and boxes to decide the Audience Prize will also be replaced by a sim-ple GoogleForm, and we have gone for an eminently virtual disseminati-on of materials, such as the general program, brochures and the hand programs of the eliminatory rounds. All communication materials can be found on the website’s user-friendly communication area; they can be ac-cessed through QR codes to be found at all events organized by the Asso-ciation. This has become a common practice that most people are already accustomed to.

A HIsTORIcALLy pIONEERING cOMpETITION IN

TEcHNOLOGIcAL INNOVATION

JUne 2021 16

The essence of the 2020 season ima-ge has been preserved for the 66th edition of the event that will bring us together this July at the Palau de la Música. On this occasion, Stina Pers-sons’ colourful and cheerful flowers evoking spring, with pistils beco-ming piano keys, have taken on a new life thanks to StudioAparte and have been adapted to the summer with an

evocative and suggestive freshness. The stripes on the background of creativity remind us of a beach um-brella and are inspired by the colors of the sea, the sun and summer heat to commemorate the outburst of life and talent that takes place in Barce-lona during the competition. Stina Persson is a multimedia artist who works seamlessly with water-

colour and collage to create lively, dynamic, and organically charged works. Her aesthetic lies between the most radical and the traditional, gui-ded by beauty, and yet never wanting to achieve total perfection.

www.stinapersson.com

From spring to summer

THE sEAsON’s IMAGE

JUne 2021 17

A MORE HuMANE AND fORTHcOMING cONTEsT

A sAfE cOMpETITION In the 2021 edition, the traditional welcome to the contestants will be carried out online. When the pia-nists arrive in Barcelona, they must present a negative result of a PCR test, taken within the last 72 hours. Each performance will take place in time slots to be strictly complied with, and the contestants are requi-red to wash their hands frequently, wear a mask and keep a safe distance. Contact between contestants should be avoided when going onstage and offstage, and an antigen test will be performed between rounds. The spa-ces will be constantly sanitized and have an air purification system.

TOwARDs A cOMpETITION THAT MEETs EVERyONE’s spIRITuAL NEEDs

The tragic halt that prevented us from organizing the 66th edition in March 2020 has helped us rethink our project with the aim of becoming even more relevant in future editi-ons. Overcoming inertia is part of an evolution and an awareness that we share with great institutions that have proved that making music in difficult times only depends on your ability to fight back. We have beauti-ful examples of this in our country which, far from being heroic, are les-sons on perseverance and commit-ment. This is a unique place in the world thanks to its resilience, which has fought against Europe’s expec-tant silence.

Our social commitment and com-mitment to artists is stronger and more relevant than ever, especially with pianists who need our support

in confusing and uncertain times. Improvisation has become an im-portant tool for those who have been pedaling for a long time, but also an Achilles heel if you are just entering the music industry and, without any established principles, are forced to build from uncertainty. Without the helping hand of projects like ours, young artists are likely to feel alone amid troubled waters. But the Medi-terranean is welcoming and inclu-sive, and we must take advantage of this to perceive each other’s real ne-eds with sensitivity and intelligence.

The Maria Canals lives the present as a great opportunity to offer a more human, honest and critical version of its project, so that music becomes a more accessible and healing art form providing answers to the spiri-tual needs of today's society, making the most of our historical back-ground and intelligently introducing new technological tools combined with the freshness of youth.

pREss KIT cOMpETITION

pREss INTERNATIONAL MusIc cOMpETITION MARIA cANALs BARcELONA

Aina Vega i RofesM. 635392887comunicacio@mariacanals.cat

C/Palau de la Música, 4-608003 Barcelonawww.mariacanals.cat