Andrés Segovia Torres, 1st Marquis of Salobreña was a Spanish virtuoso classical guitarist. Many professional classical guitarists were either students of Segovia or students of Segovia's students. Segovia's contribution to the modern-romantic repertoire included not only commissions but also his own transcriptions of classical or baroque works. He is remembered for his expressive performances: his wide palette of tone, and his distinctive musical personality, phrasing and style.
Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco was an Italian composer, pianist and writer. He was known as one of the foremost guitar composers in the twentieth century with almost one hundred compositions for that instrument. In 1939 he immigrated to the United States and became a film composer for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer for some 200 Hollywood movies for the next fifteen years. He also wrote concertos for Jascha Heifetz and Gregor Piatigorsky.
Alirio Díaz was a Venezuelan classical guitarist and composer, considered one of the most prominent composer-guitarists of South America and an eminent musician. He studied with Andrés Segovia, and gave concerts all over the world.
Graziella Concas is an Italian pianist and composer.
Josu de Solaun is a Spanish-American classical music pianist, composer and conductor. He is also a solo piano free improviser, playing solo improvised piano recitals, as well as a published poet and a published composer. He holds citizenships from both Spain and the United States. In 2019 he was given the title of Officer of Cultural Merit, a state decoration, by Klaus Iohannis, president of Romania. In both 2021 and 2023 he was awarded an International Classical Music Awards (ICMA) Award, once for chamber music and once for solo playing.
Brenno Ambrosini is an Italian pianist, born in Venice,
The Quintetto Chigiano or Chigi Quintet was an Italian musical ensemble comprising a string quartet with pianoforte, founded in 1939 and active until 1966, when it was reformed as the Chigiano String Sextet. Led by Riccardo Brengola, it was first assembled by Count Guido Chigi-Saracini out of his Accademia Musicale Chigiana at Siena in Tuscany, Italy, but developed a worldwide acclaim.
Valencia International Piano Competition Prize Iturbi XVI took take place in Valencia from September 15–27, 2008. It was won by Zhengyu Chen, who became the first Chinese pianist to attain the 1st prize.
Uta Weyand is a German pianist, who started her concert career in 1989. She is the daughter of musicians including a chair conductor and an organist. She studied in Freiburg im Breisgau (Germany), Baltimore (USA) and Madrid (Spain) with Elza Kolodin, Vitaly Margulis, Leon Fleisher and Joaquín Soriano. She has performed with the Barcelona, Madrid, Valencia, Nuremberg and Bamberg orchestras and with the Stuttgart Philharmonic and the National Orchestra of Brazil.
Goran Filipec is a Croatian concert pianist.
Marianna Prjevalskaya is a Russian concert pianist and a naturalized Spanish citizen, having settled in A Coruña in 1992.
Hayk Melikyan is an Armenian pianist and composer. He is widely known as one of the best performers of 20th century and contemporary classical music.
John Pitts is a British composer, born in Surrey in 1976.
The Valencia International Piano Competition Prize Iturbi is an international piano competition held in Valencia, Spain. It is named after virtuoso José Iturbi, born in Valencia. Created in 1981, it has been held ever since in the month of September and is part of the World Federation of International Music Competitions.
José Iturbi Báguena was a conductor, pianist and harpsichordist, from Valencia, Spain. He appeared in several Hollywood films of the 1940s, notably playing himself in the musicals Thousands Cheer (1943), Music for Millions (1944), Anchors Aweigh (1945), That Midnight Kiss (1949), and Three Daring Daughters (1948), his only leading role.
Rostislav Krimer is a classical pianist and conductor. He is also the artistic director of the Yuri Bashmet International Music Festival, and the chief conductor and artistic director of the East-West Chamber Orchestra.
Evgeny Konnov is a Russian pianist. He is the winner of many competitions, the most important of them: 2018 first prize and public prize at the 64th Maria Canals International Music Competition in Barcelona, 2019 first prize and public prize at the 31st International Ettore Pozzoli Piano Competition in Seregno, 2020 first prize at the 14th Unisa International Piano Competition in South Africa. In the season 2020/2021 he was an artist in residence at the Staatstheater Augsburg. His debut album was released by Naxos in 2022 with piano sonatas by the Catalan composer Antonio Soler and was highly acclaimed by the international press.
Vladimir Vladimirovich Khomyakov is an American pianist.
Juan Carlos Fernández-Nieto is a Spanish-American pianist. He was described by Westdeutsche Allgemeine Zeitung as "A musical sculptor who chisels out melodic lines with sharp contours". and "He set off a firework on the 88 piano keys which excited the audience in the Kulturzentrum right from the start"
Fabio Mengozzi is an Italian composer and pianist.
