South Korean pianist Soo Jung Ann wins the International Music Competition Maria Canals of Barcelona

Barcelona (ACN).- The pianist Soo Jung Ann has won this year’s edition of the International Music Competition Maria Canals of Barcelona. The ‘Maria Canals’ is one of the world’s most prestigious piano competitions, and it is organised every year in Catalonia’s capital. The South Korean interpreter, Soo Jung Ann, was awarded the international jury’s first prize, the Barcelona Award, which comes with €20,000 and with a string of concerts in Catalonia, Spain and abroad. She also received the special prize of Barcelona music school students. The final was held at the concert hall Palau de la Música Catalana, in Barcelona, on Wednesday evening. Soo Jung Ann competed with the other two finalists: Nozomi Nakagiri –who is 24 years old from Japan– and Vadym Kholodenko –who is 25  from Ukraine. They all had to play an entire concerto for piano and orchestra, different for each one. Nakagiri was awarded the jury’s second prize and Kholodenko, the third. Furthermore, the Japanese pianist was also awarded the audience’s special prize. The competition ran from March 9^th to March 21^st, and it literally took to the streets of Barcelona, with piano concerts organised in public squares and in many other venues throughout the Catalan capital. More than 100 Catalan families offered their grand pianos for the occasion. 89 artists from 23 different nationalities participated in this year’s edition.

The piano interpreters were accompanied by the Catalan Orquestra Simfònica del Vallès (Vallès Symphonic Orchestra), conducted by Rubén Gimeno. Each one of them had to play an entire concerto for piano and orchestra. Vadym Kholodenko played the Piano Concerto No. 2 in C minor by Sergei Rachmaninoff (op. 18). Soon Jung Ann won with the Piano Concerto No. 4 in G major by Ludwig van Beethoven (op. 58). And Nozomi Nakagiri interpreted the Piano Concerto No. 1 in B-flat minor by Pyotr Txaikovski (op. 23).

A prestigious competition

The ‘Maria Canals’ international piano competition was created in 1954 by Maria Canals and her husband. Since its early years, the competition became one of the world’s most prestigious contests. In 1958 it was accepted by the World Federation of International Music Competitions.

It takes place over two weeks in Catalonia’s capital and takes to the city’s streets and squares, with free piano concerts. Furthermore, the 89 participants of this year’s edition play with pianos that some of them have been allowed to use by 100 Catalan families for the occasion.

The competition’s final was held on Wednesday at the Palau de la Música but the awards ceremony will be organised on Thursday at Barcelona’s City Hall, in the old ‘Saló de Cent’ room. Furthermore, the winners will offer another concert on Friday at the auditorium of the Liceu music academy (Conservatori Superior del Liceu).

The 89 candidates went through the elimination stages between March 11^th and March 16^th, at the Petit Palau concert hall, an annex of the Palau de la Música. For the first time, the competition’s programme included an inaugural concert, organised in collaboration with the foundation Invest For Children. The winner of the 2010 Maria Canals edition, Denis Zdanhov, performed the first concert.

In total the competition awarded more than €75,000. The first prize, the Barcelona Award, came with €20,000. The second prize awarded €10,000 and the third €6,000. The three finalists also received an additional recognition of €1,000.

Soo Jong Ann has already won several piano competitions

Soo Jong Ann was born in Seoul in 1987. She earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Music at ther Korean National University of Arts in 2007, with the professor Kang Choong Mo. From 2007, she has been studying at the Royal Irish Academy of Music (RAIM), with John O’Connor and Thérèse Fahy. Soo Jong Ann has been awarded at the International Piano Competition of Hamatsu and the International Piano Competition Dublin AXA. She also obtained the second prize of the 15^th International Chopin Competition of Warsaw, in 2005.