Canada's Honens Piano Announces Rules For 2018 Competition

Calgary-based Honens today announced details of its 2018 Piano Competition. Pianists of all nationalities, aged 20 to 30 on August 30, 2018, with the exception of past Honens Laureates and professionally managed artists, may apply starting February 1, 2017. The application deadline is October 31, 2017. The Competition's Quarterfinals take place in Berlin and New York in March 2018. Semifinals and Finals take place in Calgary from August 30 to September 8, 2018.

"Once again, we're looking forward to welcoming the world to Calgary in 2018 as we discover the next Complete Artist," said Neil Edwards, Honens' President. "This is an exciting time to be leading one the world's foremost music competitions."

Today's announcement includes details on the Competition juries, collaborating musicians and mentor. "Honens' reputation for discovering and nurturing today's most engaging concert pianists is due in large part to the quality of the Competition's jurors, collaborators and mentors. Once again, for 2018, we have invited some of the world's top music professionals and musicians active on the concert stage," commented Stephen McHolm, Honens' Artistic Director.

JURIES

The Honens juries include concert pianists and other individuals from the music world who play a meaningful role in a concert artist's career. They include artist managers, collaborative musicians, conductors and concert and festival presenters. All jurors have extensive knowledge of the piano literature and represent and/or are aware of the qualities an artist must possess in order to build and sustain a career today.

Applicant Screening Jury

The Applicant Screening Jury, made up of four members including a representative from Honens, evaluates candidate applications based on proposed Competition programming, experience relative to age, and reference letters. The jury selects 50 pianists to advance to the Quarterfinals: International Audition Round.

The Applicant Screening Jury includes:

Michael Kim Canada / United States

Noriko Ogawa Japan / United Kingdom

Gilles Vonsattel Switzerland-United States / United States

indicates nationality / country of residence

First Jury: Quarterfinals

The First Jury, made up of four members, meets at the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity for a week to evaluate 50 40-minute Quarterfinals recitals and interviews with an arts journalist that have been video-recorded in Berlin and New York. The Jury selects ten pianists to advance to the Semifinals in Calgary.

The First Jury is:

Catherine d'Argoubet France/France
Winston Choi Canada/United States
Eduardo Monteiro Brazil/Brazil
Pedja Muzijevic United States / United States

indicates nationality / country of residence

Second Jury: Semifinals and Finals

The Second Jury, made up of seven members, evaluates ten Semifinalist pianists who each perform a 65-minute solo recital and a 65-minute collaborative recital. They will choose three pianists to advance to the Finals for a performance with a quintet, a concerto with orchestra and a second interview with an arts journalist. The Second Jury ultimately chooses the Honens Prize Laureate.

The Second Jury is:

Inon Barnatan Israel / United States

Ingrid Fliter Argentina-Italy/Italy
Annette Josef Germany/Germany
Wu Han Taiwan-United States / United States

André Laplante Canada / Canada

Asadour Santourian United States / United States

Minsoo Sohn South Korea / South Korea

indicates nationality / country of residence

COLLABORATING MUSICIANS

Solo performance, chamber music and collaboration with orchestra are all essential for a 21st century concert pianist. These elements are therefore integral to Honens' search for the Complete Artist. For 2018, Honens intensifies its collaborative performance requirements. Semifinalists collaborate with a violinist and with a singer in a selection of art song/lieder. Finalists perform once with a wind quintet and once with orchestra. The choice of collaborating musicians allows for both a meaningful musical partnership and a mentorship opportunity for all Competition pianists.

Benjamin Appl baritone

Jonathan Crow violin

Azahar Ensemble

Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra

Alondra de la Parra conductor

MENTOR

Honens Mentor-in-Residence offers coaching sessions to each of the seven Semifinalists who do not advance to the Finals. The Mentor also hears each of the Finalists perform with the Azahar Ensemble and with the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra under the direction of Alondra de la Parra, and meets with each Finalist to share insights. The Mentor-in-Residence shares her own experiences as a professional pianist and provides wisdom on the challenges of building a career.

Janina Fialkowska mentor

HONENS

Honens discovers, nurtures and presents Complete Artists-21st century pianists for 21st century audiences. The Honens Piano Competition takes place every three years and is considered one of the world's most prestigious events of its kind. Honens prepares its Laureates for the rigours and realities of professional careers in music and creates opportunities for growth and exposure. The annual Honens Festival is one of Canada's premier piano events.

Esther Honens created a legacy of musical excellence to be enjoyed for generations. In 1991, knowing she was near the end of her life, Mrs. Honens gave $5 million to endow an international piano competition in her hometown of Calgary, Canada. Her generosity, vision and love of music continue to touch the lives of Calgarians, Canadians and musicians and music-lovers around the world. Honens Legacy Partners follow in Esther Honens' footsteps by securing Honens' future. They support achievements in realizing Esther Honens' vision, which includes wide reaching programming through the annual Festival and enriching community outreach projects.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION

JURY

Applicant Screening Jury

Michael Kim

Canadian pianist Michael Kim received his Master of Music and Doctor of Musical Arts from The Juilliard School, where he held the Vladimir Horowitz Piano Scholarship. Since then, he has combined his touring activities with an academic career that encompasses a professorship at Lawrence University's Conservatory of Music; Dean of Brandon University's School of Music; and Director of the University of Minnesota School of Music-his current appointment. Kim has toured extensively in North America, South America, the United Kingdom and South Korea. He has toured with orchestras across North America. He has also toured Peru with Orchestra Sinfonica de Trujillo and the UK with the Royal Scottish National Orchestra and the BBC Scottish Symphony. Kim won grand-prize of the Canadian Music Competition and the CBC National Radio Competition for Young Performers. He was also silver medalist at the Scottish International Competition in Glasgow and a prizewinner in the Leeds and Ivo Pogorelich International Piano Competitions.

Noriko Ogawa

Noriko Ogawa has achieved renown throughout the world since her success at the 1987 Leeds International Piano Competition. Her "ravishingly poetic playing" (The Telegraph) sets her apart from her contemporaries and acclaim for her complete Debussy series with BIS Records confirms her as a fine Debussy specialist. Ogawa appears with all the major European, Japanese and US orchestras. Her notable chamber projects include a tour of Japan with the Berlin Philharmonic Wind Ensemble and the leader of the Vienna Philharmonic, Rainer Honeck. She has also collaborated with Steven Isserlis, Isabelle van Keulen, Martin Roscoe, Michael Collins and Peter Donohoe. In 2012, Ogawa was Artist in Residence at Manchester's Bridgewater Hall in Manchester, where she was Artistic Director for the Reflections on Debussy festival hosted by BBC Philharmonic. Her particular affinities also range from the works of Takemitsu, through the larger Romantic composers such as Prokofiev and Rachmaninov, to contemporary concertos commissioned from Graham Fitkin and Dai Fujikura. In Japan, Ogawa acts as artistic advisor to the MUZA Kawasaki Symphony Hall in her hometown. In 1999, the Japanese Ministry of Education awarded her its Art Prize in recognition of her outstanding contribution to the cultural profile of Japan throughout the world. She has also been awarded the Okura Prize for her outstanding contribution to music in Japan. She is sought-after for presenting, both on the radio and on television, recently appearing on BBC Worldwide on Visionaries as an advocate for Takemitsu and in programs for NHK and Nippon Television.

Gilles Vonsattel

Swiss-born American pianist Gilles Vonsattel is an artist of uncommon breadth with a repertory that ranges from J. S. Bach's Art of the Fugue to the complete works of Xenakis. He is Laureate of the 2009 Honens Piano Competition, recipient of an Avery Fisher Career Grant and winner of the Naumburg and Geneva Competitions. Most recently he received the 2016 Andrew Wolf Chamber Music Award, recognizing a pianist under 40 who has significant influence on the world of chamber music. Deeply committed to the chamber music repertoire, Vonsattel has been an artist member of New York's Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center since 2012, and is a former member of Chamber Music Society Two. In solo and chamber music performances, Vonsattel has appeared at the Tonhalle Zürich, Wigmore Hall in London and Munich's Gasteig, and at international festivals including the Gilmore, Caramoor and la Roque d'Anthéron. He has appeared with esteemed orchestras including the Boston Symphony at Tanglewood, San Francisco Symphony, Vancouver Symphony Orchestra, Warsaw Philharmonic and l'Orchestre de Chambre de Genève. Vonsattel is committed to the performance of contemporary works, having given premieres on both sides of the Atlantic. He has worked closely with composers including George Benjamin, Heinz Holliger and Jörg Widmann. His first recording on the Honens label was named one of the year's best classical albums in Time Out New York in 2011. His most recent album, titled Shadowlines and released by Honens in 2015, was called a "mesmerizing disc" by The New York Times. Vonsattel received his bachelor's degree in Political Science and Economics from Columbia University and a master's degree in Music Performance from The Juilliard School, where he studied with Jerome Lowenthal. He is an assistant professor at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst.

First Jury: Quarterfinals

Catherine d'Argoubet

While Catherine d'Argoubet was still a medical student at university, she and a colleague created the Festival Piano aux Jacobins in the stunning location of Toulouse's Jacobins Cloister. She has been the festival's Artistic Director since its creation and is committed to presenting young talents and internationally acclaimed artists. From the very beginning, legendary pianists such as Martha Argerich, Alicia de Laroccha, György Seb?k, György Cziffra performed alongside emerging artists. All the pianists who perform at Festival Piano aux Jacobins fall in love with the Jacobins Cloister, and audiences also demonstrate their loyalty by returning year after year. The festival has since grown to encompass jazz, contemporary music, and French romantic music. In 1986, d'Argoubet also created a musical series Les Grands Interprètes in Toulouse that presents great conductors and orchestras.

Winston Choi

Winston Choi is Head of the Piano Program at Roosevelt University's Chicago College of Performing Arts. His professional career was launched when he was named Laureate of the 2003 Honens Piano Competition and winner of France's Concours International de Piano 20e siècle d'Orléans in 2002. His solo, collaborative, chamber and concerto appearances have taken him across four continents. Known for his colorful approach to programming and insightful commentary from the stage, Choi has recently appeared in recital at the National Arts Centre of Canada, Weill Hall at Carnegie Hall ,The Kennedy Center, Kravis Center, Library of Congress and Merkin Recital Hall. Choi performs extensively in France, including at Salle Cortot, Lille's Rencontres Internationales de Piano Robert Casadesus, Festival Messiaen, Strasbourg Music Festival and IRCAM. His debut recording of the complete piano works of Elliott Carter (l'Empreinte Digitale in France) was given five stars by BBC Music Magazine: "sheer élan and pianistic devilment". He can also be heard on the Albany, BIS, la Buisonne, Crystal, Honens, Intrada, Naxos and QuadroFrame labels.

Eduardo Monteiro

Brazilian pianist Eduardo Monteiro gained international recognition after winning first prize and special jury award for best performance of Beethoven at the 1989 Cologne International Piano Competition in Germany. He was also a prizewinner at the 1991 Dublin International Piano Competition in 1991 and at the 1992 Santander International Piano Competition. Monteiro has performed as soloist with the major orchestras of Brazil and around the world including appearances with St Petersburg Philharmonic, Munich Philharmonic, Bremen Philharmonic, Vienna Chamber Orchestra, Novosibirsk Symphony and Spanish Radio and Television Orchestra, with leading conductors including Yuri Temirkanov, Mariss Jansons, Dimitri Kitayenko, Philippe Entremont and Arnold Katz. One of the main characteristics of Eduardo Monteiro's extensive repertory is the refinement he brings to his choice of program. He has a special interest in Brazilian music and his interpretation of which is considered a benchmark of excellence by many music critics. His 2007 release on the British label Meridian Records Piano Music of Brazil, was released at a recital at Wigmore Hall in London to enthusiastic reviews. Monteiro is currently Vice-Director of the School of Arts & Communications at the University of Sao Paulo, where he is Professor of Piano in the Music Department. He is also Director of the Symphonic Orchestra of the University of São Paulo.

Pedja Muzijevic

Hailed by critics as a "thinking" musician with engaging stage presence and a gratifying combination of virtuosity and eloquence, pianist Pedja Muzijevic has defined his career with creative programming, unusual combinations of new and old music and lasting collaborations with other artists and ensembles. The Financial Times (London) eloquently sums him up as "a virtuoso with formidable fingers and a musician with fiercely original ideas about the music he plays." Muzijevic's symphonic engagements include performances with the Atlanta Symphony, Dresden Philharmonic, Milwaukee Symphony, Orquesta Sinfonica in Montevideo, Residentie Orkest in The Hague, St Paul Chamber Orchestra, Santa Fe Pro Musica, Shinsei Nihon Orchestra in Tokyo and Zagreb Philharmonic. He has played solo recitals at Alice Tully Hall and The Frick Collection (New York), Irving S. Gilmore International Keyboard Festival (Michigan), Casals Hall and Bunka Kaikan (Tokyo), Teatro Municipal (Santiago de Chile), Da Camera of Houston, National Gallery of Art (Washington DC), Lincoln Center's What Makes It Great Series in New York, Arizona Friends of Chamber Music in Tucson, Lane Series at University of Vermont, Aldeburgh Festival (United Kingdom) and many others. Muzijevic studied at the Academy of Music (Zagreb), Curtis Institute of Music (Philadelphia), and at The Juilliard School (New York). Teachers who have had the greatest influence on his artistic development include pianists Joseph Kalichstein and Vladimir Krpan, violinist Robert Mann, and harpsichordist Albert Fuller. He is Director of Music Programming at the Baryshnikov Arts Center in New York.

Second Jury

Inon Barnatan

Hailed as "a true poet of the keyboard, refined, searching [and] unfailingly communicative" (Evening Standard, London), pianist Inon Barnatan is the New York Philharmonic's first Artist-in-Association, a three-season appointment highlighted by multiple concerto and chamber collaborations with the orchestra. A recipient of both the Avery Fisher Career Grant and Lincoln Center's Martin E. Segal Award, Barnatan has performed extensively with many of the world's foremost orchestras, including those of Cleveland, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, and San Francisco; Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin; Royal Stockholm Symphony Orchestra; and Gulbenkian Orchestra of Lisbon. He has worked with such distinguished conductors as Gustavo Dudamel, Michael Tilson Thomas, James Gaffigan, Susanna Mälkki, Matthias Pintscher, Thomas Søndergård,

David Robertson, Edo de Waart, Pinchas Zukerman, and Jaap van Zweden. His studies connect him to some of the last century's most distinguished pianists and teachers: he studied with Professor Victor Derevianko, himself a pupil of Russian master Heinrich Neuhaus, before studying with Maria Curcio-a student of the legendary Artur Schnabel-and Christopher Elton at London's Royal Academy of Music. He has since been taught and mentored by Leon Fleisher. Passionate about contemporary music, in recent seasons Barnatan has premiered new pieces composed for him by Matthias Pintscher, Sebastian Currier and Avner Dorman. Equally commanding in recital, his Kennedy Center solo debut prompted The Washington Post to marvel: "Although there was firecracker technique on display, it was Barnatan's intelligence, musicality and story-telling ability that most impressed."

Ingrid Fliter

Ingrid Fliter sprang to international attention when she was awarded the 2006 Gilmore Artist Award, one of only a handful of pianists to have received this honour. The Gilmore Artist Award is presented to an exceptional pianist who, regardless of age or nationality, possesses profound musicianship and charisma and who sustains a career as a major international concert artist. Born in Buenos Aires, Fliter began her piano studies in Argentina with Elizabeth Westerkamp. In 1992 she moved to Europe where she continued studies at the Freiburg Musikhochschüle with VitAly Margulis, then in Rome with Carlo Bruno and Franco Scala, and Boris Petrushansky at the Academy 'Incontri col Maestro' in Imola. She was a Laureate of the Ferruccio Busoni Competition in Italy and was awarded the silver medal at the 2000 Frédéric Chopin Competition in Warsaw. She was also selected as a BBC Radio 3 New Generation Artist from 2007 to 2009, working with several of the BBC orchestras under the auspices of this program. Today Fliter divides her time between Europe and North America, where she performs with prominent orchestras and on the stages of the most prestigious concert halls. She has established a reputation as one of the pre-eminent interpreters of Chopin; her two all-Chopin discs on EMI Classics is a testament to this: "Ingrid Fliter sets a new benchmark for the complete waltzes. From beginning to end, this is among the finest Chopin recordings of recent years" (Gramophone).

Annette Josef

Since 2013, Annette Josef has been Managing Director of the Munich Symphony Orchestra. She studied music, majoring in the bassoon, at Mannheim and Munich, attaining an arts degree and a teaching diploma at the College of Music in Munich. She received scholarships from the Accademia Musicale Chigiana in Siena, Italy, and from the Villa Musica Foundation of the Land of the Rhineland Palatinate. She has performed with various German orchestras, including the Bavarian State Orchestra and the orchestra of the National Theatre in Mannheim. In addition to her music career, Josef studied music journalism, graduating from the College of Music in Karlsruhe with distinction. During that time, she worked as a journalist for various ARD state-run regional public broadcasters in Germany and for the Research Centre in Karlsruhe, now the Karlsruhe Institute for Technology (KIT). From 2002 to 2006 she was in charge of press and public relations of the International Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival in the Lübeck main office. In 2006 Josef joined Munich Symphony Orchestra and in 2009 was appointed Orchestra Director and deputy to the Managing Director. In that role she made a major contribution to the Munich Symphony's public profile.

Wu Han

Named Musical America's Musician of the Year in 2012, pianist Wu Han ranks among the most esteemed and influential classical musicians in the world today. Leading an unusually multifaceted artistic career, she has risen to international prominence as a concert performer, recording artist, educator, arts administrator, and cultural entrepreneur. Wu Han appears regularly at many of the world's most prestigious concert series and venues, as both soloist and chamber musician: she tours extensively with cellist David Finckel, and in piano trios with Philip Setzer. She serves as Co-Artistic Director of The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center (CMS), founding Artistic Director of Music@Menlo in the Silicon Valley and is Artistic Director of Chamber Music Today, an annual festival in Seoul, South Korea. Wu Han's wide-ranging musical activities also include the launch of classical music's first musician-directed and Internet-based recording company, whose 18-album catalogue has won widespread acclaim. Passionately committed to education, she taught alongside the late Isaac Stern at Carnegie Hall and Jerusalem Music Center for many years. She established the Finckel-Wu Han Chamber Music Studio at Aspen Music Festival and School and recently launched the new CMS Chamber Music Encounters program.

André Laplante

Over the last decade, Canadian pianist André Laplante has firmly established himself as one of the great romantic virtuosos. He garnered international attention after winning prizes at the Geneva and Sydney International Piano Competitions and capturing the silver medal at the International Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow. In 2005, Laplante was named an Officer of the Order of Canada. In that same year, he was awarded Québec's Prix Opus for Best Performer of the Year and in 2010, he received another Prix Opus for Best Concert of the Year. Laplante has appeared as soloist with the Montréal and Chicago Symphony Orchestras, Czech Philharmonic Orchestra at Carnegie Hall and The Kennedy Center, Minnesota Orchestra conducted by the late Sir Neville Mariner. He has also toured Europe with Toronto Symphony Orchestra and Sir Andrew Davis and toured North America with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and the late Sir Yehudi Menuhin. Laplante's releases on the Analekta label include several Liszt albums, works by Ravel and Rachmaninov, as well as an award-winning Brahms album. He has also recorded for CBC and Melodia. His recording of Tchaikovsky's Piano Concerto No. 1 in B-flat minor Op. 23 with Joav Talmi and l'Orchestre Symphonique de Québec was nominated for the 2001 Felix Award and his recording of Jacques Hétu's Piano Concerto No. 2 Op. 64 for CBC Records won Canada's 2004 Juno Award for orchestral recordings.

Asadour Santourian

Asadour Santourian is Vice President for Artistic Administration and Artistic Advisor at Aspen Music Festival and School where he has worked with preeminent musicians on seasonal programming and long range planning for 11 years. He is also Artistic Advisor to Osmo Vanska and the Minnesota Orchestra. Having earned seven consecutive American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) Awards for creative programming of contemporary music, Santourian is known for his command of the orchestral, operatic, chamber and solo repertory. He previously served as Artistic Director of the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra and the Gergiev Festival in Rotterdam. Santourian is a regular lecturer with the Los Angeles Philharmonic and he has conceived and edited several Dutch-language program books on the music of Shostakovich, Prokofiev and Valery Gergiev.

Minsoo Sohn

Minsoo Sohn's poetic vision and musical intelligence continue to garner praise from critics and audiences alike for his masterful virtuosity and deep musicianship. The New York Times called his Honens-label CD of Bach's Goldberg Variations a "beautifully articulated, radiant interpretation" and named it one of the top classical recordings of 2011. Sohn was born in Korea and moved to Boston in his teens to study with Russell Sherman and Wha Kyung Byun at the New England Conservatory where his studies extended from his freshman year to the Conservatory's most prestigious degree, Artist Diploma, in 2004. Ten years ago, Sohn was named Prize Laureate of the 2006 Honens Piano Competition. He was also a top prizewinner at the Rubinstein, Cleveland, and Busoni international piano competitions. He recently taught at Michigan State University before returning to Seoul where he is now on faculty at the Korean National University of Arts.

COLLABORATING ARTISTS

Semifinals

Benjamin Appl

Described as 'the current front-runner in the new generation of Lieder singers' (Gramophone), Benjamin Appl is celebrated by audiences and critics in recital, concerts and opera. He is a member of the BBC New Generation Artist scheme from 2014 through 2016, was an ECHO Rising Star artist and was named a Wigmore Hall Emerging Artist, both for the 2015-16 season. During these seasons he appeared in recital at major European venues including the Barbican Centre London, Het Concertgebouw Amsterdam, Wiener Konzerthaus, Philharmonie Paris and Cologne and Laeiszhalle Hamburg. He had the fortune to be mentored by one of the greatest singers, Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau. An established recitalist, he has performed at Carnegie Hall, the Ravinia, Rheingau and Oxford Lieder festivals, deSingel Antwerp, Heidelberger Frühling, and with Graham Johnson at KlavierFestival Ruhr. He performs regularly at Wigmore Hall and at the Schubertiade Hohenems and Schwarzenberg. He works closely together with pianists including Graham Johnson, Malcolm Martineau, Helmut Deutsch, James Baillieu and Martin Stadtfeld. Appl's discography includes Mendelssohn and Schumann duets with Ann Murray (DBE), accompanied by Malcolm Martineau; his debut solo disc Stunden, Tage, Ewigkeiten accompanied by James Baillieu, which was released in April 2016 on Champs Hill records; and a live recording of Schubert lieder with Graham Johnson for Wigmore Hall Live label. Appl became an exclusive Sony Classical recording artist in May 2016.

Jonathan Crow

A native of Prince George, British Columbia, Jonathan Crow joined the Toronto Symphony Orchestra as Concertmaster in 2011. Previously he was Concertmaster of the Orchestre symphonique de Montréal, and notably during this tenure, was the youngest concertmaster of a major North American orchestra. An avid chamber musician, Crow has performed at chamber music festivals throughout North America, South America and Europe. He is a founding member of the New Orford String Quartet, a project-based new ensemble dedicated to the promotion of standard and Canadian string quartet repertoire throughout North America. As a soloist, Jonathan Crow has performed with many Canadian orchestras, with conductors including Charles Dutoit, Sir Yehudi Menuhin and Kent Nagano. An advocate of contemporary music, he has premiered works by Canadian composers Michael Conway Baker, Eldon Rathburn, Barrie Cabena, Ana Sokolovic, Marjan Mozetich, Christos Hatzis, Ernest MacMillan and Healey Willan, and includes in his repertory major concerti by such modern composers as Ligeti, Schnittke, Bernstein, Brian Cherney, Rodney Sharman and CameRon Wilson. He has recorded for the ATMA, Bridge, CBC, Oxingale, Skylark and XXI-21 labels. In 2005 Jonathan Crow joined the Schulich School of Music at McGill University as Assistant Professor of Violin and was appointed Associate Professor of Violin in 2010. He is currently Associate Professor of Violin at the University of Toronto and Artistic Director of Toronto Summer Music.

Finals

The Azahar Ensemble

The Azahar Ensemble is a woodwind quintet founded in the National Youth Orchestra of Spain in 2010. The Quintet was granted a scholarship from the Fundación JONDE/BBVA, which enabled the young musicians to study chamber music at the Hochschule für Musik Basel (Switzerland) with Sergio Azzolini. The Azahar Ensemble has won prizes at numerous international competitions, including Second Prize, Audience Prize and the Special ifp Musikpreis at the ARD International Music Competition in Munich. Since then, the Quintet has performed in Spain, France, Germany and Switzerland. After a debuting at the Berlin Philharmonie, concerts will take the ensemble now to Vienna, Barcelona, Cologne and Baden-Baden. Each member of the Quintet collaborates regularly with renowned orchestras. Frederic Sánchez Muñoz (flute) and Antonio Lagares Abeal (horn) work as freelance musicians. María Alba Carmona Tobella (oboe) is a member of the Philharmonia Zurich (Zurich Opera Orchestra). María José García Zamora is solo bassoon player at the Komische Oper in Berlin and Gonzalo Esteban Francisco is a solo clarinetist with the Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra. Azahar, derived from the Arabic az-zahr, is the name of the white, aromatic and fragrant blossoms of orange trees.

The Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra

The Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra (CPO) was formed in 1955 through the amalgamation of the Calgary Symphony and the Alberta Philharmonic. Today the CPO is one of Canada's finest and most versatile orchestras presenting world leading artists and a wonderful range of genres. The CPO's innovative style excites, entertains and inspires music lovers of all ages.

Alondra de la Parra

Alondra de la Parra has gained widespread attention for her spellbinding and vibrant performances and her commitment to Latin American composers. She frequently works with some of the world's most prestigious orchestras including Orchestre de Paris, Sao Paulo Symphony Orchestra, RSB Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra and Milan's Cameristi della Scala. In October 2015, she was appointed Music Director designate starting in 2017 by the Queensland Symphony Orchestra, making her the first ever Music Director of an Australian orchestra. In the 2015-16 season, de la Parra made her debut with the London Philharmonic Orchestra on tour in Mexico, Orchestra dell'Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, Tonhalle Orchestra Zurich as well as her subscription debut with the NHK Symphony. She also appeared at the BBC Proms Australia with Queensland Symphony Orchestra. Highlights of the last seasons include her celebrated return to Orchestre de Paris in summer 2015 which was broadcast live by German-French TV channel Arte, her return invitation to RSB Berlin and Queensland Symphony Orchestra, appearances with the Verbier Festival Orchestra, BBC National Orchestra of Wales, Cameristi della Scala, Orchestre Symphonique de Québec, a CD project with Tonkünstler Orchestra Vienna and composer Enjott Schneider as well as a live orchestral performance of the film West Side Story at Mexico's Auditorio Nacional. In the 2016-17 season, she makes her debut with the Kammerphilharmonie Bremen, Bamberger Symphoniker and Orchestre de la Suisse Romande. Further highlights include her debut at Beethovenfest Bonn, concerts with the BBC Philharmonic and return invitations to the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra, RSB Berlin and Tonhalle- Orchester Zürich.

Alondra de la Parra was born in New York City and moved to Mexico with her parents at age two. She began playing the piano at age seven and the cello at 13, and decided early on she wanted to become a conductor. After studying in Mexico City and New York, she founded the Philharmonic Orchestra of the Americas (POA) in 2004 to create a platform to showcase young performers and composers of the Americas and securing a firm place in the standard orchestral repertory for the continent's music. She holds the distinction of being the first Mexican woman to conduct in New York City and is an official Cultural Ambassador of Mexico.

MENTOR

Janina Fialkowska

Janina Fialkowska has enchanted audiences for over 40 years with her glorious lyrical sound, her sterling musicianship and her profound sense of musical integrity. In 1974, her career was launched by Arthur Rubinstein after her prizewinning performance at his inaugural Master Piano Competition in Israel. Fialkowska has performed with the foremost North American orchestras, among them the Chicago Symphony, Cleveland Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Philadelphia Orchestra, Houston Symphony and Pittsburgh Symphony as well as with all of the principal Canadian orchestras, including the Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver Symphony Orchestras and Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra with which she recorded with Hans Graf. In touring Europe and Asia, she has appeared as guest artist with such prestigious orchestras as the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra of Amsterdam, Halle Orchestra, London Philharmonic, London's Philharmonia Orchestra, BBC Symphony, Royal Philharmonic, Scottish National Orchestra, Warsaw Philharmonic and the French and Belgium National Radio Orchestras as well as Stuttgart Radio Symphony Orchestra. Fialkowska was the Founding Director of the 'Piano Six' project and its successor 'Piano Plus'. This latest project brought together some of Canada's greatest classical pianists, instrumentalists and vocalists with Canadians who, for either geographical or financial reasons, would otherwise be unable to hear this calibre of live classical performance. She is an Officer of the Order of Canada and holds honorary doctorates from Acadia University, Queen's University and Wilfrid Laurier University. Fialkowska is the recipient of the 2012 Governor General's Performing Arts Award for Lifetime Achievement in Classical Music, and, in 2013, received the coveted Instrumentalist of the Year award from BBC Music Magazine for her recording Chopin Recital No. 2.

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