Musical Bridges Around the World will absorb the San Antonio International Piano Competition, which is held every four years. “We are excited about presenting the 2020 San Antonio International Piano Competition and each competition thereafter,” said Anya Grokhovski, MBAW artistic director and CEO. SAIPC President James Lucas said he is happy about the merger because it will open new doors for the organization. “It will introduce us to new relationships, resources, and creative input that will enable SAIPC to thrive in its mission of sponsoring international competitions and developing local talent,” he said. Founded in 1983 and presented...

Musical Bridges Around the World’s annual festival features renowned Persian fiddle player Kayhan Kalhor Kayhan Kalhor knows life will always involve the mundane—bills, dishes, work—which is why the Grammy Award–nominated musician says music and culture are so crucial. “Some of us will be professional musicians and some will be professional listeners, but music is so important in this world that we live in,” says Kalhor, who will perform on Friday, March 22, as part of Musical Bridges Around the World’s five-concert International Music Festival. “Culture is the only thing that’s worthwhile. A world without art and culture would be...

In San Antonio this weekend you’ll find plenty of music: Conjunto music, piano music and a musical stage drama. First off: Conjunto all weekend at the Tejano Conjunto Festival. Tejano Conjunto Festival Conjunto was born when Europeans brought accordions to South Texas, and locals paired them with bajo sexto, making the genre a San Antonio native in the world of music. The Guadalupe Cultural Arts’ Cristina Balli says this weekend, Rosedale Park will be the center of the Conjunto universe. “People come from all over the state, all over the country, people come from Europe, and all the way from Japan,” she said. Balli...

  The Austin Troubadours will perform March 29 as part of Musical Bridges Around the World’s sixth annual International Music Festival. Causing heart attacks is not officially in the mission statement of Musical Bridges Around the World (MBAW), but its programming nearly caused a couple of them, according to founder Anya Grokhovski. The occasion was two classically trained musicians confronting their long-held stereotypes during a 2011 MBAW concert that mixed traditional European classical music with traditional Indian classical music. Just that both could be rightly termed “classical” shocked Grokhovski, and her Indian...

Armed with three degrees from Moscow’s Russian Academy of Music, concert pianist Anya Grokhovski arrived in the U.S. in 1989 and moved to San Antonio three years later for a position as a staff accompanist at UTSA. After bringing several Russian and European musicians to San Antonio for performances, Grokhovski launched an intimate series of house concerts that evolved into Musical Bridges Around the World (MBAW) — a multicultural arts nonprofit that aims to “unite people one concert at a time.” While possibly best recognized for its genre-spanning series Musical Evenings at San Fernando Cathedral, MBAW also reaches 50,000 students,...

From the music of medieval and Renaissance Europe, to American jazz, to the sounds of Japanese instruments, the 6th annual International Music Festival returns to the Alamo City from March 22 to 31. All performances are free and open to the public. For more information, visit www.mbaw.org or call (210) 464-1534. Friday, March 22 7 p.m. Empire Theatre “Persian Delight with an American Twist” Three-time Grammy Award-nominee Kayhan Kalhor, the world’s preeminent master of the kamancheh (four-stringed upright Persian fiddle), performs with Brooklyn Rider, the innovative string quartet praised for its “Beethoven-goes-indie foray into making...

We are extremely excited to announce the judges for the 2020 Gurwitz International Piano Competition in San Antonio, TX! We are honored to have Maestro Sebastian Lang-Lessing – the Artistic Director of the San Antonio Symphony as Chairman of the Jury. The judges are internationally acclaimed artists such as Russian pianist Olga Kern – Gold Medalist of the XI Cliburn International Piano Competition in Fort Worth, TX, first woman to win in more than thirty years; Israeli pianist Yaron Kohlberg , the newly appointed President of the Cleveland International Piano Competition in 2018, prize-winner of ten international piano...