MISSION & VISION

2020 Gurwitz medalists (left to right): Gold Medalist Jiale Li (CHN), Silver Medalist Yedam Kim (KOR), Bronze Medalist Leonardo Colafelice (ITL). Credit: Rob Michaelson.

The Gurwitz International Piano Competition (formerly known as The San Antonio International Piano Competition) was founded in 1983 by a group of fellow music lovers, some of whom are still involved with the Competition today, with the very first competition being held in the Laurie Auditorium at Trinity University in October 1984.

This quadrennial competition (sometimes referred to affectionately as “Piano Olympics” because of its 4 year iteration) features some of the most exhilarating young talents in the world with past participants hailing from Australia, Argentina, Armenia, Brazil, Belgium, Canada, Chile, China, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Israel, Italy, Japan, Lithuania, Malaysia, Mexico, Netherlands, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Russia, Singapore, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Taiwan, Thailand, Ukraine, United Kingdom, United States, and Venezuela. Participation in The Gurwitz has inspired young pianists to greater heights, with many taking their rightful places among the most prestigious music faculties in the world and/or bringing joy to audiences around the globe through prestigious concert performances.

Over the years some of the most distinguished concert pianists/educators have served on The Gurwitz Jury panel, such as Abbey Simon, David Burge, Joseph Bloch, Ruth Laredo, Ann Schein, Peter Takacs, Ralph Votapek, Daniel Pollack, Robin McCabe, William Wolfram, Santiago Rodriguez, Lita Guerra, Boris Slutsky (former SAIPC Gold Medalist), Jeffrey Swann, Ilana Vered, Naoko Takao (former SAIPC Gold Medalist), Eduardo Delgado, Jeffrey Biegel, Gustavo Romero, Sebastian Lang-Lessing, Olga Kern, Afa Dworkin, Yaron Kohlberg, and Carolyn True.

Acquisition by MBAW & Name Change
Shortly after the completion of the twelfth competition in June 2016, the competition’s Board of Directors entered into discussions with the organization they felt was the best match to take the competition to new heights: Musical Bridges Around the World (MBAW). A year later, MBAW acquired the competition as one of its many arms of programming and subsequently renamed it The Gurwitz International Piano Competition to honor the late Ruth Jean Gurwitz who was a competition co-founder and President Emeritus for more than 20 years. (Read more about Ruth Jean below)

Gurwitz Gains World Status
One of the next steps for MBAW was to bring The Gurwitz onto the global stage. A major step came when the competition was accepted as a member of the Geneva-based World Federation of International Music Competitions (WFIMC) starting in 2020. The WFIMC is a member of the International Council of Music founded by UNESCO in 1949; The Council “promotes access to music for all and the value of music in the lives of all people.” The criteria for acceptance into the WFIMC included a last-round performance with a professional symphony, a minimum of four of seven judges from outside the United States, and hosting at least two international piano competitions prior to applying for membership. The Gurwitz met these requirements after the 2020 competition partnered with the San Antonio Symphony for its final round and its judge’s international requirements were met.