Maria Canals International Music Competition

The Maria Canals International Music Competition (Catalan: Concurs Internacional de Música Maria Canals Barcelona, IPA: [kuŋˈkuɾs intəɾnəsi.uˈnal də ˈmuzikə məˈɾi.ə kəˈnalz βəɾsəˈlonə]) is a music competition held yearly in the Palau de la Música Catalana, Barcelona. It was founded as a piano competition in 1954, but in 1964 it was expanded so other modalities could be held occasionally.^[1]^[2]

It was founded in 1954 by the

Catalan pianist Maria Remei Canals i Cendrós (1913–2010) and her husband, the composer and writer Rossend Llates (1899–1973).^[3] Since 1954, the Competition has welcomed over 7,000 participants from 100 countries and 180 jury members from all over the world.^[4] It became a member of the World Federation of International Music Competitions in 1958.^[5]

The Maria Canals competition, for which artists such as

Interior Ministry

in 1996.

Commentaries on the competition

Of the multitude of international piano competitions, it is comforting to note that a competition like the Maria Canals at Barcelona, in which the piano is judged purely on a musical level, in which the player cannot forget the essential thing, interpretation, that such a competition takes on greater importance every year. Musicians can only praise and thank Maria Canals for her initiative. For my part, I can only warmly salute not only the longevity of this competition, but its ever more important participation in that magnificent combat in which, nobly and with exemplary probity, the artists of the future – those who will pick up the baton from their elders – face each other. – Vlado Perlemuter, 1964.^[6]
Those of us who follow the Barcelonan musical life can't forget the ascendant evolution of the Maria Canals International Music Competition, initiated in 1954, which has turned into one of the most important European competitions. In celebrating its 40th anniversary we can state that many performers of the highest level have arisen from the competition, such a thing having contributed to expand the prestige of Barcelona as an artistic city. – Xavier Montsalvatge, 2004.^[7]

Prize Winners

**Piano**^[8]
1954	1st prize (men)	1st prize (women)
	Miquel Farré Mallofré	Maria Neus Miró Gumà
1956	Grand prize	1st prize (men) (ex-a.)	1st prize (women) (ex-a.)
	Not awarded	Klaus Börner	Aline Demierre
		Giorgio Radicula	Núria Escofet Manich
1957	Grand prize	1st prize (men)	1st prize (women)
	Not awarded	Alberto Colombo	Thérèse Castaigne
1958	1st prize
	Françoise Thinat
1959	1st prize	2nd prize (men)	2nd prize (women)
	Not awarded	Jean-Jacques Hauser	Yoko Ikeda
1960	1st prize
	Andrzej Jasiński
1961	1st prize
	Catherine Silie
1962	1st prize
	Dinorah Varsi
1963	1st prize	2nd prize (men)	2nd prize (women)
	Not awarded	Jerzy Gajek	Françoise Parrot
1964	1st prize
	Dag Achatz
1965	1st prize
	James Tocco
1966	1st prize
	Leonora Milà Romeu
1967	1st prize	2nd prize (ex-a.)
	Not awarded	Franco Angeleri
		Jacques Rouvier
1968	1st prize
	Christina Viñas
1969	1st prize
	Joseph W. Fennimore
1970	1st prize	2nd prize
	Guadalupe Parrondo	Martin Hughes
1971	1st prize	2nd prize (ex-a.)
	Not awarded	Ewa Bukojemska
		Yves Noack
1972	1st prize
	Klára Barányi
1973	1st prize
	Jonathan M. Purvin
1974	1st prize	2nd prize by unanimity	2nd prize (ex-a.)
	Not awarded	Blanca Bodalla	Akira Imai
			Pierre Réach
1975	1st prize	2nd prize (men) (ex-a.)	2nd prize (women)
	Not awarded	Raimondo Campisi	Marioaran Trifan
		Roberto Capello
		Andrea Bonatta
1976	1st prize	2nd prize
	Yasuto Sugimoto	Elza Kolodin
1977	1st prize	2nd prize (ex-a.)	3rd prize
	Arnulf von Arnim	Chung-Myung Kim	Silvia Natiello
		Carmen Or
1978	1st prize	2nd prize	3rd prize
	Bernard d'Ascoli	Erik Berchot	Ruriko Kikuchi
1979	1st prize	2nd prize (ex-a.)	3rd prize
	Not awarded	Yves Rault	Mario Bosselli
		Christine Kiss
1980	1st prize	2nd prize	3rd prize
	Yuri Rozum	Catherine Joly	Akos Hernadi
1981	1st prize	2nd prize (ex-a.)	3rd prize
	Not awarded	Kazuoki Fujii	José Carlos Cocarelli
		Michel Gal
1982	1st prize	2nd prize	3rd prize
	Hiromi Okada	Karoly Mocsari	Yuki Matsuzawa
1983	1st prize	2nd prize (ex-a.)	3rd prize	Special prize
	Not awarded	Bernd Glemser	Antonella Vignali	Marcelino López Domínguez
		Kyoko Koyama
1984	1st prize	2nd prize (ex-a.)	3rd prize
	Not awarded	Rie Konishi	Galina Vratcheva
		Pascal Le Corre
1985	1st prize	2nd prize (ex-a.)	3rd prize
	Not awarded	Detlef Kaiser	Constantin Sandu
		Ian Munro
1986	1st prize	2nd prize	3rd prize	Special prize
	Chiharu Sakai	Carole Carniel	Nobuyuki Nagaoka	Ignacio Marín Bocanegra
1987	1st prize	2nd prize	3rd prize (ex-a.)
	Not awarded	Christopher Oakden	Keiko Nakai
			Alexandre Tharaud
1988	1st prize	2nd prize	3rd prize	Special prize
	Zhong Xu	Olivier Cazal	Junko Saito	José Ramón Méndez Menéndez
1989	1st prize	2nd prize	3rd prize	Special prize
	Gerardo Vila	Christophe Simonet	Yukiko Hori	Miquel Jorba Picañol
1990	1st prize	2nd prize	3rd prize (ex-a.)
	Mathieu Papadiamandis	Not awarded	Jovianney E. Cruz
			Andrei Fadeev
1991	1st prize	2nd prize	3rd prize
	Yuri Martinov	Yuko Nakamichi	Eva-Maria Rieckert
1992	1st prize	2nd prize	3rd prize
	Armands Ābols	Akiko Kato	Tomoko Doi
1993	1st prize	2nd prize	3rd prize
	Amir Katz	Gustavo Díaz-Jerez	Rafal Luszczewski
1994	1st prize	2nd prize	3rd prize (ex-a.)
	Sviatoslav Lips	Dmitri Morozov	Frederik Lagarde
			Johko Takemura
1995	1st prize	2nd prize	3rd prize (ex-a.)
	Won Kim	Keiji Serizawa	Yulia Botchkovskaia
			Birgita Wollenweber
1996	1st prize	2nd prize	3rd prize (ex-a.)
	Not awarded	Jan Gottlieb Jiracek	Saar Ahuvia
			Kiyo Wada
1997	1st prize	2nd prize (ex-a.)	3rd prize	Special prize
	Not awarded	Elina Hata	Li Wang	Young-Ha Chung
		Ayako Kawai
1998	1st prize	2nd prize	3rd prize (ex-a.)	Special prize
	Peter Koczor	Takahiro Mita	Miwako Takeda	Vincent Larderet
			Anthony Zerpa-Falcon
1999	1st prize	2nd prize	3rd prize
	Kirill Gerstein	Ayako Kimura	Sung-Hoon Hwang
2000	1st prize	2nd prize	3rd prize (ex-a.)
	Yusuke Kikuchi	Ferenc Vizi	Piotr Kupka
			Fabrice Lanoë
2001	1st prize	2nd prize (ex-a.)	3rd prize
	Yurie Miura	Mel Adkins	Mayako Asada
		Ekaterina Krivokochenko
2002	1st prize	2nd prize (ex-a.)	3rd prize
	Viv McLean	Alexandre Moutouzkine	Yun-Yang Lee
		Kook Hee Hong
2003	1st prize	2nd prize	3rd prize
	Inesa Synkevich	Yosuke Niino	Sowon Hwang
2004	1st prize	2nd prize	3rd prize
	Piotr Machnik	Yi-Chih Lu	Matei Varga
2005	1st prize	2nd prize	3rd prize
	Jue Wang	Yukiko Akagi	Fumiyo Kawamura
2006	1st prize	2nd prize	3rd prize
	José Enrique Bagaría Villazán	Marie Vermeulin	Mi-Yeon I
2007	1st prize	2nd prize (ex-a.)
	Mladen Čolić	Veronika Böhmova	Marisa Gupta
2008	1st prize	2nd prize	3rd prize
	Martina Filjak	Ilya Maksimov	Jun Ishimura
2009	1st prize	2nd prize	3rd prize
	Vestards Šimkus	Jong Yun Kim	Scipione Sangiovanni
2010	1st prize	2nd prize	3rd prize
	Denis Zhdanov	Olga Kozlova	Marko Hilpo
2011	1st prize	2nd prize	3rd prize
	Mateusz Borowiak	Alexey Lebedev	Alexey Chernov
2012	1st prize	2nd prize	3rd prize
	Soo Jung Ann^[9]	Nozomi Nakagiri	Vadym Kholodenko
2013	1st prize	2nd prize	3rd prize
	Stanislav Khristenko	Tomoaki Yoshida	Haejae Kim
2014	1st prize	2nd prize	3rd prize
	Regina Chernychko	Sergey Belyavskiy	Tatiana Chernichka
2015	1st prize	2nd prize	3rd prize
	Danylo Saienko	Minsung Lee	Caterina Grewe
2016	1st prize	2nd prize	3rd prize
	Hiroo Sato	Shiori Kuwahara	Yutong Sun
2017	1st prize	2nd prize	3rd prize
	Levon Avagyan	Hit Yat Tsang	Anastasia Rizikov
2018	1st prize	2nd prize	3rd prize
	Evgeny Konnov	Luke Jones	Alexey Sychev
2019	1st prize	2nd prize	3rd prize
	Daumants Liepinš	Aleksandr Klyuchko	Ka Jeng Wong

2021 - 1st prize - Sandro Gegechkori (Georgia) 2nd prize - Ziming Ren (China) 3rd prize - Rafael Kyrychenko (Portugal)

**Chamber Music (1970–87) and Duo-Sonatas (1996 and later)**^[8]
1970	1st prize
	Fernando Puchol and Pedro León
1973	1st prize	2nd prize by unanimity
	Not awarded	Dieter Lallinger and Jürgen Besig
1980	1st prize	2nd prize	3rd prize
	Roland Straumer and Olaf Dressler	Izumi Komoriya and Taisuko Yamashita	Juan Llinares and Ludovica Mosca
1987	1st prize	2nd prize	3rd prize
	Michael Sanderling and Gerald Fauth	Senoko Numata and Akemi Tadenuma	Pierre Luc Denuit and Sylvie Barret
1996	1st prize	2nd prize	3rd prize
	Avi Downes and Shana Downes	Aya Yoshii and Yoko Yoshihara	Maria Belousova and Katarzyna Ewald
1999	1st prize	2nd prize	3rd prize (ex-a.)
	Florian Wiek and Justus Grimm	Akiko Okabe and Yuko Aragaki	Isabel Gabbe and Leslie Riva
			Kyoko Sasaki and Eriko Iso
2004	1st prize	2nd prize	3rd prize (ex-a.)
	Eung Soo Kim and Moon Young Chae	Igor Bobowitsch and Elena Kolesnichenko	Julien Beaudiment and Laetitia Bougnol
			Katia Novell and Luis Parés

**Flute**^[8]
1968	1st prize	2nd prize (ex-a.)
	Not awarded	Lô Angelloz
		Teresita Frey
1972	1st prize	2nd prize (ex-a.)
	Not awarded	Christine Turellier
		Edelgard Seeman
1978	1st prize	2nd prize (ex-a.)	3rd prize
	Not awarded	Masayoshi Enokida	Jadwiga Kotnowska
		Philippe Pierlot
1983	1st prize	2nd prize	3rd prize	Special Prize
	Erika Sebök	Motoaki Kato	Monika Hegedüs	Vicenç Prats
1988	1st prize	2nd prize (ex-a.)	3rd prize
	Dita Krenberga	Christel Rayneau	Natalia Setchkareva
		Iren More
1994	1st prize	2nd prize	3rd prize
	Natalia Danilina	Atsuko Koga	Maryse Graciet
1998	1st prize	2nd prize	3rd prize (ex-a.)
	Olesia Tertychnaia	Christian Farroni	Kaori Fujii
			Dejan Gavric
2001	1st prize	2nd prize	3rd prize
	Francesca Canali	Hyun-im Yoon	Petra Orgl

**Guitar**^[8]
1969	1st prize	2nd prize
	Not awarded	Wolfgang Lendle
1974	1st prize	2nd prize	3rd prize
	Marie Thérèse Ghirardi	Dagoberto Linhares	Dušan Bogdanović
1979	1st prize	2nd prize	3rd prize
	Leonardo Palacios	William Waters	Guillermo Pérez
1981	1st prize	2nd prize	3rd prize
	Gabriel García Santos	Shin-Ichi Fukuda	Nicholas Petrou
1985	1st prize	2nd prize	3rd prize
	Stefano Cardi	Han Jonkers	Keiko Fujii
1989	1st prize	2nd prize	3rd prize
	Esther-Helena Steenbergen	István Römer	Vladimir Tervo
1992	1st prize	2nd prize	3rd prize
	George Vassilev	Xavier Coll	Daisuke Suzuki
1997	1st prize	2nd prize	3rd prize
	Sara Gianfelici	Lorenzo Micheli	Daekun Jang

**Percussion**^[8]
1982	1st prize	2nd prize (ex-a.)	3rd prize	Special prize (ex-a.)
	Not awarded	Axel Fries	Shin-ichi Ueno	Jordi Mestres
		Peter Sadlo		Santiago Molas
1990	1st prize	2nd prize (ex-a.)	3rd prize
	Ramón Alsina	Armin Weigert	Stefan Eblenkamp
		Ignasi Vila

**Trio**^[8]
2009	1st prize	2nd prize	3rd prize
	Trio Demian	Trio Quintillian	Trio Monte

**Violin**^[8]
1964	1st prize
	Rubén González
1967	1st prize
	Edith Volckaert
1971	1st prize
	Ernst Kovacic
1975	1st prize	2nd prize
men	Gerardo Ribeiro	Eugen Sârbu
women	Yukari Tate^[10]	Rasma Liélmane
1979	1st prize	2nd prize	3rd prize
	Not awarded	Véronique Bogaerts	Berthilde Dufour
1984	1st prize	2nd prize	3rd prize (ex-a.)	Special Prize
	Stéphane L. Picard	Not awarded	Danuta Glowacka	Joaquín Palomares
			Mark Bleck
1989	1st prize	2nd prize (ex-a.)	3rd prize (ex-a.)
	Not awarded	Franziska Pietsch	Thomas Bötcher
		Yova Slessareva	Kyoko Saburi
1993	1st prize	2nd prize	3rd prize
	Denitsa Kazakova	Ryotaro Ito	Olga Nodel

**Violoncello**^[8]
1976	1st prize	2nd prize
	Daniel Raclot	Antônio Meneses
1986	1st prize	2nd prize	3rd prize
	Hillel Zori	Luca Signorini	Not awarded
1991	1st prize	2nd prize	3rd prize (ex-a.)
	Valérie Aimard	Anita Barbereau	Laure Vavasseur
			Thorsten Encke

**Voice**^[8]
1965	1st prize	2nd prize
	Not awarded	Not awarded
1966	1st prize
	Wolfgang Witte
1967	1st prize
	Dirk Schortemeier
1968	1st prize
	Ionel Pantea
1969	1st prize	2nd prize (ex-a.)
	Not awarded	Kiyoko Ishii
		Roswitha Haub
1971	1st prize
	Magdalena Cononovici
1972	1st prize	2nd prize
	Not awarded	Sandra Sandru
1973	1st prize
	Marilena Marinescu
1974	1st prize	2nd prize by unanimity	2nd prize (ex-a.)
	Not awarded	Marius Cosmescu	Juliana Paszthy
			Wally Salio
1975	1st prize	2nd prize	3rd prize
	Ludmila Yourchenco	Aleksandr Rudkowsky	Aleksandr Vorosilo
1976	1st prize	2nd prize	3rd prize
	Not awarded	Not awarded	Not awarded
1977	1st prize	2nd prize (ex-a.)
	Not awarded	Károly Szilágyi
		Keiko Hibi
1978	1st prize	2nd prize
	François le Roux	Rodica Mitrica
1979	1st prize	2nd prize	3rd prize (ex-a.)
	Not awarded	Eva Tihany	Gabriela Mazza
			Kuniko Taguchi
1981	1st prize	2nd prize (ex-a.)	3rd prize
	Nancy Carol Moore	Anne Salvan	Olim Sadoullaiev
		Luis Álvarez Sastre
1983	1st prize	2nd prize	3rd prize (ex-a.)
	Mabel Perelstein	Jennifer Larmore	Elise Bédard
			Catalina Moncloa
1985	1st prize	2nd prize (ex-a.)	3rd prize
	Chihiro Bamba	Tomas Möwes	Teresa Verdera
		Annette K. Markert
1987	1st prize	2nd prize (ex-a.)	3rd prize (ex-a.)
	Not awarded	Jenny M. Miller	Fumi Yamamoto
		Jin-Ok Kim	Teodor Ciurdea
1990	1st prize	2nd prize	3rd prize (ex-a.)	Special prize
	Vladimir Dits	Mirela S. Spinu	Malgorzata Lesiewicz-Przybył	Manuel Lanza
			Manuel Lanza
1995	1st prize	2nd prize	3rd prize (ex-a.)
	Mihoko Fujimura	Rosa Mateu	Hanna Dóra Sturludóttir
			Suki Kim
2000	1st prize	2nd prize (ex-a.)	3rd prize
	Annette Dasch	Ramona Eremia	Not awarded
		Giedré Povilaityté

References

^ Ana Maria Davila (4 May 2007). "Competició pianística de primera". El Mundo.
^ Lourdes Morgades (2 May 2007). "Un total de 114 pianistas aspiran a darse a conocer al mundo desde Barcelona en el Concurso Maria Canals". El País.
^ L'Enciclopèdia
^ Barcelona Yellow
^ "Concours Internationaux de musique Maria Canals de Barcelone". World Federation of International Music Competitions. Archived from the original on 11 December 2017. Retrieved 27 January 2016.
^ Vlado Perlemuter. "Dans la multiplicité des Concours Internationaux de Piano..." Archived from the original on 14 November 2007. Dans la multiplicité des Concours internationaux de Piano, il est réconfortant de constater qu'un Concours comme celui de Maria Canals à Barcelona, où le Piano n'est jugé qu'à l'échelle de la Musique, où l'instrumentiste ne peut pas oublier l'essentiel, l'interprète, qu'un tel Concours prend chaque année une ampleur grandissante. Les musiciens ne peuvent que louer et remercier Maria Canals de son initiative. Je ne peut, pour ma part, que souhaiter chaleureusement non seulement la longévité de ce Concours, mais une participation toujours plus importante à cette magnifique joute, où s'affrontent noblement et avec une probité exemplaire, les futurs artistes, qui prendront la relève de leurs aînés.
^ Xavier Montsalvatge. "Els que ja fa temps que seguim..." Archived from the original on 8 January 2007. Els que ja fa temps que seguim la vida musical barcelonina no podem oblidar l'ascendent evolució del Concurs Internacional d'Execució Musical Maria Canals, iniciat el 1954 per convertir-se en un dels certàmens més imporrtants d'Europa. En celebrar el seu 40 aniversari, podem afirmar que, del concurs, han sorgit molts intèrprets de primera categoria, cosa que ha contribuït a expandir arreu el prestigi de la realitat artística barcelonina.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ "The winners of the competition". Concurs Maria Canals. Retrieved 25 January 2016.
^ "South Korean pianist Soo Jung Ann wins the International Music Competition Maria Canals of Barcelona". Catalan News. 22 March 2012. Retrieved 26 November 2017.
^ "6e session musicale". ladepeche.fr. Retrieved 25 January 2016.

[1] Ana Maria Davila (4 May 2007). "Competició pianística de primera". El Mundo.

[2] Lourdes Morgades (2 May 2007). "Un total de 114 pianistas aspiran a darse a conocer al mundo desde Barcelona en el Concurso Maria Canals". El País.

[3] L'Enciclopèdia

[4] Barcelona Yellow

[WFIMC-5] "Concours Internationaux de musique Maria Canals de Barcelone". World Federation of International Music Competitions. Archived from the original on 11 December 2017. Retrieved 27 January 2016.

[6] Vlado Perlemuter. "Dans la multiplicité des Concours Internationaux de Piano..." Archived from the original on 14 November 2007. Dans la multiplicité des Concours internationaux de Piano, il est réconfortant de constater qu'un Concours comme celui de Maria Canals à Barcelona, où le Piano n'est jugé qu'à l'échelle de la Musique, où l'instrumentiste ne peut pas oublier l'essentiel, l'interprète, qu'un tel Concours prend chaque année une ampleur grandissante. Les musiciens ne peuvent que louer et remercier Maria Canals de son initiative. Je ne peut, pour ma part, que souhaiter chaleureusement non seulement la longévité de ce Concours, mais une participation toujours plus importante à cette magnifique joute, où s'affrontent noblement et avec une probité exemplaire, les futurs artistes, qui prendront la relève de leurs aînés.

[7] Xavier Montsalvatge. "Els que ja fa temps que seguim..." Archived from the original on 8 January 2007. Els que ja fa temps que seguim la vida musical barcelonina no podem oblidar l'ascendent evolució del Concurs Internacional d'Execució Musical Maria Canals, iniciat el 1954 per convertir-se en un dels certàmens més imporrtants d'Europa. En celebrar el seu 40 aniversari, podem afirmar que, del concurs, han sorgit molts intèrprets de primera categoria, cosa que ha contribuït a expandir arreu el prestigi de la realitat artística barcelonina.

[CMCWinners-8] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ "The winners of the competition". Concurs Maria Canals. Retrieved 25 January 2016.

[Catalan2012-9] "South Korean pianist Soo Jung Ann wins the International Music Competition Maria Canals of Barcelona". Catalan News. 22 March 2012. Retrieved 26 November 2017.

[ld-10] "6e session musicale". ladepeche.fr. Retrieved 25 January 2016.

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