22 pianists from 15 countries have been selected by the jury for the Iturbi Prize, organized by the Valencia Provincial Government. There were an initial 178 musicians registered from 41 countries, for this 21st international competition which is celebrating its 40th anniversary.
In alphabetical order, the performers who made it to the shortlist come from 15 countries: Juan Barahona (Spain), Antonii Baryshevskyi (Ukraine), Michelle Candotti (Italy), Luigi Carroccia (Italy), Haike Dietrich (Germany), Florian Feilmair (Austria), Felix Hong (Canada), Sebastian Iivonen (Sweden), Vincent Ip (USA), Andrei Ivanou (Belarus), Salome Jordania (Georgia), Airi Katada (Japan), Hoyel Lee (South Korea), Yeram Park (Germany), Mihkel Poll (Estonia), Oxana Shevchenko (Kazakhstan), Alexey Sychev (Russia), Yuna Tamogami (Japan), Tsubasa Tatsuno (Japan), Anastasia Yasko (Russia), Zifan Ye (China) and Hanna Yukho (Belarus).
The nations most represented in the first round are: Japan, with three contestants; and Germany, Belarus, Italy and Russia, with two. By continents, there is a notable contingent of musicians from Europe, who account for 64, whereas 27% are from Asia and 9% from North America. As for gender parity, there are 13 men (59%) and 9 women (41%) in the competition.
For the first time, the Iturbi Prize can count on Joaquín Achúcarro as artistic director, who will be heading the competition’s jury, made up of eight exemplary people from the international piano and music scene: Catherine D’Argoubet, Ana Guijarro, Jorge Luis Prats, Menahem Pressler, Didier Schnorhk, Josu de Solaun, Paolo Pinamonti and Barrett Wissman.
