Guanajuato, Gto., October 15, 2019.- From November 4th to 7th, the Division of Architecture Art and Design (DAAD) through the Department of Music and Performing Arts of the Guanajuato Campus of the University of Guanajuato (UG), will hold the First National Piano Competition in Guanajuato, in homage to two great pianists: Clara Wieck Schumann, on the 200th Anniversary of her birth, and Luz María Puente.

This contest has as its background the First State Piano Competition and the First Regional Piano Competition in Guanajuato, both also held through the DAAD and the Music Department. Also, the Children's Performance Competition, which involved other instruments besides the piano.

For this edition, renowned and international pianists have been invited as a qualifying jury, who will in turn decorate the competition with two recitals at the Teatro Juárez: M. Jorge Federico Osorio and M. Alejandro Barrañón, both from Mexico and M. Elena Camarena, from Mexico-Germany.

Dr. Adriana M. Martínez Maldonado, responsible for the event, also announced that the call was open to students and pianists residing in the Mexican Republic and that the contest will be held with a unique category: age limit of 30 years; and there will be two elimination phases with a traditional repertoire and two obligatory works: Scherzos 1 or 2 by Clara Wieck Schumann; and a work by a Mexican composer, Guanajuatense: El Torito de Pólvora by Carlos Vidaurri Aréchiga.

She disclosed that the participants come from Guanajuato, State of Mexico, Jalisco, Zacatecas, Aguascalientes, Michoacán, Chiapas and Monterrey; there are 25 interested in participating who have requested the obligatory work from the Department of Music and Performing Arts. She anticipated that a previous selection was already made, of which 15 participants remained for the face-to-face stage in Guanajuato.

On this occasion, it is important to mention the tribute to the great pianist and composer Clara Wieck Schumann, on the 200th anniversary of her birth; and the Mexican pianist, Luz María Puente, whom in 2008 the Chamber Orchestra of Mexico City recognized her for her career as a soloist and teacher of several generations of pianists.

Similarly, on January 26, 2015, the National Council for Culture and Arts and the Mozart A.C. Academy awarded Luz María Puente the Medal in the Merit Category, along with Gallya Dubrova, Natia Stankivitch and Virgilio Valle; and in September 2017, she received the Medal of Fine Arts.

In this First National Competition, the contest will have the privilege of counting as a jury, the son of Luz María Puente: Jorge Federico Osorio, considered in 2017 as one of the most relevant pianists in the world.

In an interview with M. Osorio, held that holding the First National Piano Competition in Guanajuato, is one of the important events in our country, which opens up opportunities to locate talented people, particularly young people, in such important encounters as in Mexico City, Xalapa, Guadalajara, Tijuana; and now, Guanajuato.

He acknowledged that it is not an easy task to be sworn in for a contest, but it is "exciting to listen to and know each participant, their personality, the artistic part and try to do the best with the criteria and experience of each of the jurors. Everything counts."

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