The Maria Canals International Music Competition fills Barcelona with pianos
This year’s edition, the 60th, celebrates the centenary year of the birth of the competition’s creator
From the 22nd of March to the 2nd of April approximately one hundred eighteen-to-thirty-year-old piano players from around the world will take part in the 60th edition of the Maria Canals International Music Competition, the oldest music competition in Spain. The event will be held in the Palau de la Música, and pianists from 26 countries will compete for prizes in a number of categories.
This year’s edition marks the centenary of the birth of the founder, Barcelona-born Maria Canals i Cendrós, and the competition will include a number of parallel activities.
From the 8th of March to the 30th of May, the Off Concurs and Maria Canals Porta Cua... events will see upright pianos placed at the disposition of the general public for over 500 hours. Thirty-six pianos will be placed in thirty-six locations around the city for anyone to play, though there will also be a number of programmed appearances. The locations include the Passeig de Gràcia, where ten piano will be available between 11 am and 8 pm on the 22nd of March, the Plaza Pastrana (23rd of March), and other cultural facilities around the city (MACBA, La Pedrera, Palau Robert, Liceu, Museu Nacional d’Art de Catalunya). One of the locations will be right in front of Maria Canals’ house, where one of her old pianos will be played by former winners of the competition.