2006 Valencia International Piano Competition Prize Iturbi

XV Jose Iturbi International Piano Competition took place in Valencia, from September 14 to the 30th, 2006. The competition is held every two years and is a member of the Geneva World Federation of International Music Competitions. Pianist Josu De Solaun Soto was given the First Grand Prize, becoming the first Spanish pianist to be awarded such distinction in the 25 years of the competition's existence. The prize included over $25,000, recital and orchestral engagements and a recording contract.

Jury

• • Joaquín Soriano (president)
  • Sulamita Aronovsky
  • Sergei Dorensky
  • Miguel Ángel Herranz
  • Jaime Ingram
  • Mi Kyung Kim
  • Natalie Michailidou
  • Fernando Puchol
  • Leslie Wright (substituting Jean-Bernard Pommier)
  • Oxana Yablonskaya

Prizes

First Grand Prize	Josu de Solaun
Second Prize	Valentina Igoshina
Third Prize	Andrei Yaroshinsky
Fourth Prize	Patrick Hemmerle	Sofya Melikyan
Fifth Prize	Natalya Kuchaeva
Sixth Prize	Void
Best Valencian pianist	Josu de Solaun
Best Spanish pianist	Josu de Solaun
Best interpreter of Spanish music	Patrick Hemmerle	Sofya Melikyan
Best interpreter of Spanish contemporary music	Miguel Ángel Castro	Philipp Kopachevsky
Best interpreter of a Beethoven concerto	Patrick Hemmerle
Best interpreter of a Chopin piece	Patrick Hemmerle

Compositions commissioned for the competition

• • Joan Cerveró - Verdi
  • Carlos Fontcuberta - Après tout [ Performance by Miguel Á. Castro ]
  • Voro García Fernández - Etoiles filantes

Competition Results (by Rounds)

First round

Yukiko Akagi	Orlando Alonso	Cathal Breslin	Catalina Butcaru	Claudio Carbó
Miguel Ángel Castro	Josu de Solaun	Dora Deliyska	Geraldine Dutroncy	Anna Fedorova
Sonja Fräki	Nikolai Gangnus	Irina Georgieva	Patrick Hemmerle	Dagmar Hofman
Hong Kook-hee	Hyung Sue-woon	Valentina Igoshina	Kyoko Kashii	Marianna Katerelou
Kim Ji-youn	Philipp Kopachevsky	Natalya Kuchaeva	Fuyuka Kusa	Lee Yoo-soon
Lin Weichi	Maria McGarry	Sofya Melikyan	Katia Michel	Salvatore Monzo
Yukako Morikawa	Eleonora Morozova	Inocencio Negrín	Theodosia Ntokou	Vincenzo Oliva
Antonio Ortiz	Natalya Osenchakova	Stefania Passamonte	Ekaterina Popova	Cameron Roberts
Pavel Shatskiy	Anna Solivieva-Drubich	Inesa Sinkevych	Shun Tominaga	Wu Xiaofeng
Andrei Yaroshinsky	Yoon Eun-kyung	Bojana Zdravković	Denis Zhdanov

Second round

Yukiko Akagi	Cathal Breslin	Claudio Carbó	Miguel Ángel Castro	Josu de Solaun
Anna Fedorova	Nikolai Gangnus	Patrick Hemmerle	Valentina Igoshina	Philipp Kopachevsky
Natalya Kuchaeva	Fuyuka Kusa	Lin Weichi	Sofya Melikyan	Yukako Morikawa
Inocencio Negrín	Vincenzo Oliva	Antonio Ortiz	Cameron Roberts	Pavel Shatskiy
Wu Xiaofeng	Andrei Yaroshinsky	Bojana Zdravković	Denis Zhdanov

Third round

Yukiko Akagi	Claudio Carbó	Miguel Ángel Castro	Josu de Solaun	Patrick Hemmerle
Valentina Igoshina	Philipp Kopachevsky	Natalia Kuchaeva	Sofya Melikyan	Yukiko Morikawa
Antonio Ortiz	Andrei Yaroshinsky

Semifinals

Josu de Solaun (Beethoven's 3rd)	Patrick Hemmerle (Beethoven's 1st)	Valentina Igoshina (Beethoven's 4th)
Natalya Kuchaeva (Beethoven's 5th)	Sofya Melikyan (Beethoven's 3rd)	Andrei Yaroshinsky (Beethoven's 3rd)
Accompaniment: Valencia Orchestra. Yaron Traub, conductor.

Final

Josu de Solaun (Rachmaninov's 2nd)	Valentina Igoshina (Tchaikovsky's 1st)	Andrey Yaroshinsky (Rachmaninov's Rhapsody)
Accompaniment: Valencia Orchestra. Yaron Traub, conductor.

External links

• History of the Competition, since 1981; PREVIOUS WINNERS
• Interview with Josu De Solaun Soto
• Directory of International Piano Competitions