PARMA Recordings, on behalf of the Piazzolla Music Competition and Fundación Astor Piazzolla, is pleased to announce a donation of $10,000 to benefit the Playing For Change Foundation, realizing the competition’s goal to support musicians and music education in honor of the late legendary tango composer, Astor Piazzolla.
Bob Lord, CEO of PARMA Recordings, stated:
“One of our goals with the competition has been to contribute to musical education for those in need, and we’re happy to donate $10,000 USD to the non-profit charity Playing For Change on behalf of the Piazzolla Music Competition for this purpose.
I feel it is clear that we will do what we set out to do: find and elevate deserving talent, raise money for music education, and celebrate the work of a great composer, artist, and innovator.”
Playing For Change Foundation currently operates 15 music programs in 11 countries, and have positively impacted more than 40,000 lives since 2007. Playing For Change Foundation also employs more than 200 staff, teachers, and community leaders locally across the globe. Peter Gabriel, Yo-Yo Ma, and many more world-famous musicians have teamed up with Playing For Change in honor of Black History Month and other initiatives.
2021 Piazzolla Music Competition Winners:
Winners of the competition have been announced on the Piazzolla Music Competition website!
After receiving hundreds of submissions from incredibly talented musicians across the world, the jury of GRAMMY winning musicians and Piazzolla family ranked the submissions based on performance, technique, and interpretation.
We’re delighted to announce the winners of the Piazzolla Music Competition. There were great number of high-level and professional participants in this competition and it was wonderful to see many musicians that understand the spirit of Piazzolla’s music. I believe everyone would agree on the excellence of technique, interpretation, musicality, passion, and energy that the winners demonstrated.
– Pablo Ziegler, President of the Jury
Winners will receive performances, tours, recordings, and cash prizes to support their music careers. PARMA will be providing the gold medal prize winners from each category with a recording contract as well as organizing the prize performances. The winners of the soloist and ensemble categories will receive a performance tour in China, a recording contract with PARMA Recordings, $1,500 USD, a gold medallion recognizing the soloist as the grand prize winner of the Piazzolla Music Competition, and a one-year subscription to iClassical Academy. The Piazzolla Music Competition silver and bronze medallions recognize soloists and ensembles as the second and third place winners, and include a one-year subscription to iClassical Academy.
Paris, France
Created in 2009, the Quinteto Respiro is formed by five musicians who met during their training at the conservatories of Lyon, Paris, Geneva and Zurich. It was during a master-class given by the great Argentine pianist and composer Gustavo Beytelmann that their passion for Argentine music was born. The music of Quinteto Respiro is as much about the traditional tango repertoire for the ballroom as it is about its most contemporary and daring forms.
Philadelphia, USA
The quartet’s work illuminates the intersectionality of Latin American and Western string quartet repertoire and brings visibility to the deep history of Latinx contributions to chamber music in the United States by collaborating with Hispanic musicians. The Dalí is devoted to reaching underrepresented Latinx communities with bilingual programs. In addition, the quartet’s annual International Music Festival places special focus on Latinx students from the United States and abroad
Paris, France
The Quinteto Emedea is the result of the collaboration of five passionate musicians who share a common ambition: to rediscover and explore the music of the great Astor Piazzolla. Resolute to offer a new approach on the music and modernity of Astor Piazzolla, Emedea strives to give a new life to the little-known corners of his works, the rarely interpreted repertoire, and the hidden gems.
St. Petersburg, Russia
Anton Stachev began his musical education at the age of 6 and later moved to St. Petersburg where he graduated from the N.A. Rimsky-Korsakov St. Petersburg State Conservatory. Since 2015, he has played accordion in his own group, 4SOULS, and engages in solo performances, seeking new paths for his instrument.
Paris, France
Thanks to the bandoneon that he inherited from his grandfather, Lysandre Donoso quickly became passionate about tango and Argentinian music. Lysandre decided to stop his engineering studies in 2010 and dedicate himself to the music. Lysandre is now a reference in tango and one of the most requested bandoneonists in Europe.
Montevideo, Uruguay
Maximiliano Nathan started studying violin and drums at the age of 9, but later chose to specialize in vibraphone, an instrument that would lead him to undertake improvisation and composition. He has always had great interest in the reinterpretation of music of folkloric origin.
SPECIAL PRIZE – Concert with the Zagreb Philharmonic Orchestra
Paris, France
The Quinteto Emedea is the result of the collaboration of five passionate musicians who share a common ambition: to rediscover and explore the music of the great Astor Piazzolla. Resolute to offer a new approach on the music and modernity of Astor Piazzolla, Emedea strives to give a new life to the little-known corners of his works, the rarely interpreted repertoire, and the hidden gems.
SPECIAL PRIZE – Concert with the Grosseto Symphony Orchestra
St. Petersburg, Russia
Anton Stachev began his musical education at the age of 6 and later moved to St. Petersburg where he graduated from the N.A. Rimsky-Korsakov St. Petersburg State Conservatory. Since 2015, he has played accordion in his own group, 4SOULS, and engages in solo performances, seeking new paths for his instrument.
SPECIAL PRIZE – Concert with the Athens Philharmonia Orchestra
Indiana, USA
Praised for her multifaceted interpretations of classical and contemporary music, violist Rose Wollman is sought after as a soloist, chamber musician, teacher, and orchestral musician. She has performed in venues around the world including Carnegie Hall, Suntory Hall, the KKL, the Kennedy Center, the Krannert Center, and Constitution Hall.
SPECIAL PRIZE – Pablo Ziegler Award
California, USA
Yae-ri Choi holds a BM degree from Manhattan School of Music and a MM degree from Eastman School of Music, studied with Patinka Kopec, Charles Castleman, and Glenn Dicterow, the former concertmaster of New York Philharmonic for a Graduate Certificate Diploma from the University of Southern California. Youna Choi Youna Choi has featured internationally throughout Korea and the United States. As a founding member of the Three Strings Ensemble, she performed numerous recital series sponsored by the city of Seoul, and the ensemble was nominated as a winner of the Manhattan International Music Competition. Ahyoung Won has performed recitals in France, Germany, Swiss and Austria, including two gala concerts as a winner of ‘Concours International de Piano Teresa Llacuna-Ville de Valence’, ‘Euregio Piano Award’ and a scholarship recital in Basel.
SPECIAL PRIZE – iClassical Academy Award
Osaka, Japan
Pianoduo LUSTRE is a piano duo formed by Japanese pianists based in Munich, specializing in four-hands piano repertoire from Mozart to contemporary music. Their aim is to flourish the original composition pieces for this style of playing, which they believe “deserves a higher value and respect.”
SPECIAL PRIZE – iClassical Academy Bonus Award
Río Cuarto, Argentina
Born in Río Cuarto, Argentina in 1981, Gonzalo Esteban Antuñaia’s career began at the age of 18 as the only finalist guitarist in the “XI Concurso Internacional de Jóvenes Músicos.” During his years of study he obtained first prize in the contest “Arte Joven” in Río Cuarto and later performed a tour around the country. He still studies flamenco guitar and is part of various Early Music projects with Baroque Guitar.
SPECIAL PRIZE – iClassical Academy Bonus Award
Graz, Austria
Since their formation in 2016, the duo has continued to trace their name’s signification: “The world is sound.” The two musicians Marlies Fürst (accordion) and Corinna Kornthaler (flute) combine tango with classical pieces, deploying melodies from musette and folk music as well as evoking strains of jazz and pop. :Nada Brahma represent a vibrant and creative take on chamber music. Besides other events and concerts, the duo has been a part of the International Accordion Festival Vienna.
