Maria Canals' 64th edition: more than a piano contest

How to select piano players? How to attract them to bring them to you contest? How to select the jury? How to guarantee and prove the transparency of an event with hundreds of participants, volunteers and workers involved?

All of this questions popped up during the 1st International Conference of Piano Contests, which gathered more than 150 attendants. The Conference took place in Barcelona the past 19th and 20th of March in the Petit Palau, a building within the Palau de la Música facility in Barcelona. 

Organizing a piano contest requires a lot of fundings and the ability to find the right people at the right time.The jury is a key aspect of the event. The more qualified the jury is, the more prestigious the contest will be.

Maria Canals piano contest is a notorious one, and its succes is partly due to its fifty years of experience. It all started in 1954. Named after a piano player and devoted teacher Maria Canals, the contest is by now like spring: it comes once a year, every March.

This past 64th edition of the Maria Canals contest counted on the dozens of activites that it usually includes, from placing a piano in major Barcelona avenues to funding children in need so they can learn how to play the piano at no cost for a year. This year, the contest also included the 1st International Conference of Piano Contests.

International Alink-Argerich Foundation organized the two-days event in Barcelona just on time for the assistants to attend the Maria Canals piano contest’s semifinal and final. The Maria Canals contest ended the 23th of March, and it gave its most generous award, 25000 euros, to the Russian Evgeny Konnov.

Apart from Luke Jones, two other piano players, Luke Jones and Alexey Sychev, received the amount of 10.000 euros and 6.000 euros. Every year, the money of the Maria Canals piano awards comes from Carulla Foundation and Jesús Serra Foundation.

Winning a big international contest like Maria Canals allows performers to take part in big International concerts, so they are crucial as a means to professionalization. 

Alink-Argerich Foundation organized the piano contest meeting that took place in the same days and within the same space of the Maria Canals piano contest.  

On the Alink-Argerich Foundations’ website, one can find practically every piano contest on an International scale. This is why Alink-Argerich is a referent foundation for those who work hard to become professional musicians, just as Maria Canals piano contest is the best scenery for young piano promises.

What would the future of piano and piano players be without the help of organizations?