Canadian in mix as 6 finalists named for prestigious piano competition

The Jury of the 20th Santander International Piano Competition is revealing the six finalists of the Competition, one of them being a 22-year-old Canadian.

From July 29 to August 1, the fourth of the Semi-final recital sessions at the Palacio de Festivales de Cantabria's Sala Pereda finished and six participants were unveiled. One of them being Jaeden Izik-Dzurko from Salmon Arm, British Columbia.

Izik-Dzurko is a first-place winner at the Federation of Canadian Music Festivals' National Competition, a winner of Juilliard's Gina Bachauer Scholarship Competition, also a graduate from Julliard with a Bachelor of Music, and a first-place winner of the 67th Maria Canals International Music Competition that took place in March and April earlier this year.

22-year-old Izik-Dzurko, along with the five other finalists selected by the Jury and the Radiotelevisión Española Symphony Orchestra (RTVE) under the supervision of its Chief Conductor, Maestro Pablo González, will compete in the Final on August 3 and 4 included in the 71st Santander International Festival (FIS). 

Izik-Dzurko will be the closing performance on Thursday, he will perform Rachmaninov's Concerto for Piano and Orchestra Op. 30 No. 3 in D minor.

There are nearly 90,000 Euros to be shared between the first, second, and third place winners, the Great Prize of Santander, the Audience Award, Laureates Prizes and Diplomas. The Santander Competition also offers the winner and finalists several performances in prestigious halls around the world to serve as the beginning of their professional careers. The first-place winner will additionally receive a recording of a CD under the Naxos label.

The audience will be able to engage with the Competition as they will have the opportunity to decide on the winner after each of the Finals performances has finished. 

Izik-Dzurko will be competing along side Yu Nitahara (31) from Japan, Marcel Tadokoro (28) from Japan/France, Matyáš Novák (23) from Czech Republic, Xiaolu Zang (22) from China, and Domonkos Csabay (31) from Hungary.

The Final Competition is available on the Paloma O'Shea Santander Piano Competition YouTube channel.