Santa Cecilia announces its winners

With an emotional, tension-packed final, the Santa Cecilia International Piano Competition recently ended its 25th edition on a very high note. The competition is now held annually at the renown Casa da Musica in Porto, with its finals in the Sala Suggia accompanied by the Orquestra Filarmonica Portuguesa. Having started in 1968 as a school competition, the competition celebrates its 55th anniversary this year and has truly become a reference event in the country.

This year was held the 25th edition of the Santa Cecília International Competition, a special year. From more than 200 entries for the video selection, 43 participants were chosen to perform in Porto, at Casa da Música. At the opening concert  past winner Mirabelle Kajenjeri presented the CD she recorded with the support of SCIC. In parallel with the competition, in addition to the possibility of performing solo in a piano marathon in the city,  the initiative "Melodic Dialogues" was developed: candidates  had the opportunity to have individual meetings with the members of the jury to talk about their performance. The jury was composed of Álvaro Teixeira Lopes, Carles Lama (Spain), Maria José Souza Guedes (Portugal), Rena Shereshevskaia (Russia/France) Eduardo Monteiro (Brazil), Wolfram Schmitt-Leonardy (Germany), Leonel Morales (Cuba/Spain ) and Antonio di Cristofano (Italy), and the final was accompanied by the Portuguese Philharmonic Orchestra.

Winner of the first prize, Artem Kuznetsov is a native of Balashov (Russia). An award-winning concert pianist and vivid chamber musician he is extensively performing solo recitals as well as collaborating with orchestras in major concert halls around the world.
Mr. Kuznetsov is a winner of more than ten international competitions. Throughout his career he performed in prestigious venues such as the Kennedy Center in Washington DC, Benaroya Hall in Seattle, Kimmel Center in Philadelphia, Schloss Ettlingen and Asamsaal in Germany and the Muziekcentrum Enschede in the Netherlands. 
He is also actively involved in musical outreach for under-served communities, as well as educational events for young musicians.