Ramzi Yassa is an Egyptian pianist. An outstanding member of the first batch of musicians trained at the Cairo Conservatory, Yassa graduated in Moscow's Tchaikovsky Conservatory, taking part in the 1974 Tchaikovsky competition, where he earned an Honorary certificate. He then launched a concert career, settling in Paris. Three years later, he was the first Egyptian pianist to win a major piano competition—the 'Paloma O'Shea' Santander International Piano Competition.
The XVI Paloma O'Shea International Piano Competition took place at the Palacio de Festivales in Santander, Spain, from July 25 to August 7, 2008. Twenty pianists, selected through three shortlists of candidates took part in the event. The Dresden Philharmonic accompanied the three finalists in the final on August 6. Both the Semi-finals and the Final were broadcast through TVE.
Jue Wang is a Chinese pianist.
Hugh Tinney is an Irish pianist.
Viktor Ivanovich Lyadov is a Russian pianist.
Jesús González Alonso is a Spanish pianist.
Armands Ābols is a Latvian pianist.
Enrico Pompili is an Italian pianist.
Plamena Mangova is a Bulgarian pianist.
Albert Tiu is a Filipino classical pianist from the province of Cebu in the Philippines.
Ruriko Kikuchi is a Japanese pianist.
Jong Hwa Park (Hangul: 박종화) is a South Korean pianist. He was prized at the 1995 Queen Elisabeth Competition (5th) and the 1996 Concorso Busoni (4th) before being awarded the 1998 Paloma O'Shea Santander International Piano Competition's 2nd prize.
Josep Colom is a Spanish classical pianist.
Yung Wook Yoo, is a South Korean pianist, winner of the Paloma O'Shea Santander International Piano Competition.
The Albeniz Foundation, is a private non-profit organisation promoting classical music in Spain through the Reina Sofía School of Music, the Paloma O'Shea International Piano Competition, the Isaac Albéniz Library and Research Centre, and the International Chamber Music Institute of Madrid. The foundation is named after the Spanish composer and pianist Isaac Albéniz because he represents the renaissance of Spanish music at the beginning of the 20th century in Europe. The foundation is based in Madrid and has a permanent office in Santander.
Marioara Trifan is an internationally performing American pianist and conductor.
Juan Pérez Floristán is a Spanish classical pianist.
Márta Gulyás is a performing pianist and a professor of piano and chamber music.
