2020 Competition
Past Gurwitz Competitions
Competition Results
Gold Medal ($25,000)
Sponsored by Franklin Park & Central TX Pain Center
Jiale Li | China
Sponsored by Awilda & Louis Ramos
Silver Medal ($15,000)
Sponsored by Musical Arts Center of San Antonio
Yedam Kim | Korea
Sponsored by Virginia Kane
For Booking Inquiries of the Medalists, Contact:
Elena Portnaya, Gurwitz Artistic Director
Audience Favorite Award ($5,000)
Sponsored by Minnie Stevens Piper Foundation
Leonardo Colafelice | Italy
Sponsored by Anya Grokhovski & Robert Michaelson
Best Performance of Spanish/Latin Work ($5,000)
Sponsored by Epitacio Resendez
Jongyun Kim | Korea
Sponsored by WestEast Design Group
Jury
Preliminary Jury
Committee
CONTESTANTS
Alexander Malikov
Canada
Sponsored by Dr. Leo Zorrilla Alexander
Anna Gershtein
Russia
Sponsored by Vernon Haney
Anna Grot
Russia
Sponsored by Donna and Ted Welsh
Nikita Lukinov
Russia
Sponsored by Arseni Grokhovski and Flor Beckman
Maria Narodytska
Ukraine
Sponsored by Victoria Seplarsky and Leonid Bogdanov
Alexey Sychev
Russia
Sponsored by Michelle Reese
Joon Yoon
Korea
Sponsored by Luis A. Ramos & Rafael A. Ramos
Letter from the CEO
Welcome to The Gurwitz 2020!
We invite pianists from any country, 18 – 32 years of age, to apply to The Gurwitz 2020. The application process for participants is open from 1 January to 30 June 2019 through ACCEPTD. Preliminary Judges will select 12 competitors bound for San Antonio, TX from 26 January – 2 February 2020. The selected 12 will be announced by 1 October 2019. The Gurwitz will sponsor these participants’ transportation, accommodation and US visas. Along with solo piano programs in first two rounds, the third round will feature a unique commissioned chamber music piece for piano and world music instruments. The final round will feature piano concertos with the renown San Antonio Symphony. Finalists in round four will vie for Gold $25,000; Silver $15,000 and Bronze $10,000 prizes. We will also have special prizes, performance opportunities and benefits for participants and the winner which will be announced closer to the competition.
The international panel of judges is comprised of world class musicians and industry executives including Maestro Sebastian Lang-Lessing – Music Director of the San Antonio Symphony, concert pianists Olga Kern, Yaron Kohlberg, Boris Slutsky, Carolyn True and violinist, Director of the Sphinx Organization – Afa Dworkin. Members of the Silk Road Ensemble, Syrian clarinetist Kinan Azmeh and American percussionist John Hadfield are one-of-a-kind musicians sharing their incredibly versatile artistry during the World Music Round playing the commissioned work of San Antonio composer Ethan Wickman. We are grateful to our beloved San Antonio Symphony for partnering with The Gurwitz 2020 as we look forward to a Grand Finale of concertos for piano and orchestra!
The Gurwitz is proud to have become a member of the Geneva, Switzerland based World Federation of International Music Competitions in 2018. This status recently shed a global spotlight on San Antonio in my recent interview with BBC Music Magazine.
We look forward to welcoming the best emerging piano talent from around the globe, judges and spectators from all over the world to the Crossroads of the Americas: our beautiful City of San Antonio in Bexar County, Texas! Between UNESCO World Heritage status for our Spanish Missions, our romantic River Walk, a UNESCO designated Creative City of Gastronomy, San Antonio is a unique cultural asset in Texas with tremendous southern hospitality. As The Gurwitz 2020 brings the world to San Antonio – our City, County, businesses and partners welcome you with open arms!
Love,
Anya
*The Gurwitz 2020 is run, managed and produced by Musical Bridges Around the World. Each competition year, The Gurwitz will occur as part of the International Music Festival and will be open to the public.
CHAMBER MUSIC ROUND COMPOSER AND GUEST ARTISTS
Ethan Wickman
Composer
Kinan Azmeh
Clarinet
Sponsored by Luminous Counseling Center - Fa Winsborough
John Hadfield
Percussion
Sponsored by Luminous Counseling Center - Fa Winsborough
Chamber Music Round Commissioned Piece
Ethan Wickman
Sponsored by the Muriel F. Siebert Foundation
June Tanner Jaffee Honoring Beverly Tanner Widder
Murmurs from the Exile
for clarinet in B-flat, percussion, and piano
INSTRUMENTATION
- Clarinet in B-flat
- Percussion (medium suspended cymbal w/ soft yarn mallets, tambourine, frame drum)
- Piano
PERFORMANCE NOTE
Murmurs from the Exile is a work that combines Eastern rhythms and scales with Western tonal chromaticism in virtuosic flourishes. Both the clarinet and piano are given improvisatory passages with specific guidance as to pitch choice and collection. While specific instructions are given at the appropriate places in the score, performers of these parts should strive to use principally the pitches in the designated collection. Other pitches may be used sparingly to add color, or ‘non-harmonic tone’ effects. Overuse of non-collection pitches will undermine the harmonic integrity of these passages.
The percussionist should be an experienced hand drummer that is comfortable with improvisation and embellishment. The frame drum portions of the work provide a rhythmic outline, that may be tastefully embellished in the following passages: mm. 67-79, mm. 139-150, mm. 183-190. All other percussion passages, with the exception of the freely improvised portions (mm. 157, 160, 163, 166) should be interpreted literally. M. 156 provides guidance for the first portion of improvisation.
DURATION: ~12 minutes
Commissioned by Musical Bridges Around the World for the
13th Quadrennial Gurwitz International Piano Competition
Schedule of Events


SUNDAY 26 JANUARY 2020
Grand Opening All-Star Judges Showcase | 3 PM – 5 PM
Pearl Stables – 307 Pearl Pkwy, San Antonio, TX 78215
The Grand Opening ALL STAR Judges’ Showcase will be an unprecedented display of world talent featuring Gurwitz judges and guest artists from the SOLI Chamber Ensemble and Yo Yo Ma’s Silk Road Ensemble.


MONDAY 27 JANUARY 2020
Round I Day 1 | Morning Session : 10AM – 1 PM
Ruth Taylor Recital Hall – Trinity University, San Antonio TX 78212
Morning session of Round I, Day 1 with fifty minute recitals by first 3 contestants:
1. Alexander Malikov
2. Alexey Sychev
3. Joon Yoon
Round I Day 1 | Evening Session : 4 PM – 7 PM
Ruth Taylor Recital Hall – Trinity University, San Antonio TX 78212
Evening session of Round I, Day 1 with fifty minute recitals by next 3 contestants:
4. Jiale Li
5. Nikita Lukinov
6. Anna Grot


TUESDAY 28 JANUARY 2020
Round I Day 2 | Morning Session : 10 AM – 1 PM
Ruth Taylor Recital Hall – Trinity University, San Antonio TX 78212
Morning session of Round I, Day 2 with fifty minute recitals by next 3 contestants:
7. Anna Gershtein
8. Yedam Kim
9. Artem Kuznetsov
Round I Day 2 | Evening Session : 4 PM – 7 PM
Ruth Taylor Recital Hall – Trinity University, San Antonio TX 78212
Evening session of Round I, Day 2 with fifty minute recitals by last 3 contestants:
10. Jongyun Kim
11. Maria Narodytska
12. Leonardo Colafelice


WEDNESDAY 29 JANUARY 2020
Round II | Morning Session : 10 AM – 1 PM
Ruth Taylor Recital Hall – Trinity University, San Antonio TX 78212
Morning session of Round II with first 3 semi-finalists featuring work(s) from composer(s) of Latin or Spanish origin:
2. Alexey Sychev
3. Joon Yoon
4. Jiale Li
Round II | Evening Session : 4 PM – 7 PM
Ruth Taylor Recital Hall – Trinity University, San Antonio TX 78212
Evening session of Round II with last 3 semi-finalists featuring work(s) from composer(s) of Latin or Spanish origin:
8. Yedam Kim
10. Jongyun Kim
12. Leonardo Colafelice


THURSDAY 30 JANUARY 2020
Festival Feature Concert | 7 PM
Charline McCombs Empire Theatre, 226 N St Mary’s St, San Antonio, TX 78205
Special Feature Concert Featuring International Jazz Pianist, Hiromi (Japan)! Day four takes a quick break from the week-long competition for a special concert at the Empire Theatre with internationally-renowned jazz composer and pianist Hiromi!


FRIDAY 31 JANUARY 2020
Round III, World Music Round | 7 PM
Charline McCombs Empire Theatre, 226 N St Mary’s St, San Antonio, TX 78205
Featured guest artists from the Silk Road Ensemble: Kinan Azmeh, clarinet (Syria) and John Hadfield (USA), percussion perform with the three remaining finalists Jiale Li, Yedam Kim, and Leonardo Colafelice.


SATURDAY 1 FEBRUARY 2020
ROUND IV, GRAND FINALE | 7 PM
H-E-B Performance Hall, Tobin Center for the Performing Arts, 100 Auditorium Cir, San Antonio, TX 78205
Performance by the three finalists Jiale Li, Yedam Kim, and Leonardo Colafelice of a select piano concerto with the San Antonio Symphony and Maestro Sebastian Lang-Lessing!


SUNDAY 2 FEBRUARY 2020
The Gurwitz Awards Brunch | 11 AM
St. Anthony Hotel, 300 East Travis Street, San Antonio, TX, 78205
Awards are presented along with a performance by 3 Gurwitz medalists on a historical Louis XV style Steinway piano in the Peacock Lounge.