The Gijón International Piano Festival is a non-profit association created by and for pianists, with the primary goal of sharing their passion for music and honing their talents in an inspiring and collaborative environment. Founded by renowned pianist Julian Martin and conductor Oliver Díaz, the festival brings together musicians from around the world, offering a unique space for artistic growth and exchange.
The Festival proudly bears the name of Jesús González Alonso, a pianist from Gijón who had a renowned international career as a performer and teacher. His legacy and contribution to the world of music inspire us to continue promoting piano excellence and keeping his artistic spirit alive.
Our faculty comes from top conservatories from all over the world
Celebrating our 25th anniversary
This year we celebrate the 25th edition of the Gijón International Piano Festival. This milestone reflects our dedication and passion for music. On this exceptional anniversary, we have prepared an unforgettable edition that will pay tribute to our history and look to the future of the festival.
Join us in this special edition and discover the magic of the piano in the heart of Gijón.
Our faculty
Recent performances include Chopin's first piano concerto with the Cuban National Symphony Orchestra and Manuel de Falla's "Nights in the Gardens of Spain" with the Nittany Valley Symphony, as well as numerous solo and chamber music performances in the United States, Europe, and Asia. His playing has been featured on WQXR's "Performance Today" and on Classical KMFA. He has been a guest performer at many music festivals, including Caramoor Festival, Barge Music Series, Festival Internacional de Piano de las Islas Canarias, Music at Penns Woods, Amalfi Coast International Music Festival, "Tocando el Cielo," Musica en Compostela, the Stony Brook International Piano Festival, and the Santander International Music Festival to name a few. As a chamber musician, Mendez has collaborated with such distinguished artists as Karl Leister, Itzhak Perlman, Michael Tree, Pascual Martinez-Nieto, and Pinchas Zukerman.
Mendez received his first music instruction from his father and by the age of seven was already performing on Spanish television and radio stations. He made his solo debut at the age of eleven at the Oviedo Philharmonic Society in Oviedo, Spain, the youngest performer ever to do so in the history of the society. He first gained international recognition when he performed Liszt's first piano concerto under the direction of Sergiu Commissiona at the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam. Since then, he has concertized extensively in his native Spain, the United States, Italy, England, Portugal, Holland, and Japan to great acclaim. With his poetry, intellect, and masterful technique, he has been praised by critics and celebrated by audiences around the world.
At the age of 18, Mendez's success brought him to the United States, where he began his studies at Manhattan School of Music in New York City. He completed his Bachelors and Masters Degrees in piano performance with renowned pedagogue Solomon Mikowsky and went on to finish his Doctorate of Musical Arts under the tutelage of Byron Janis and Miyoko Lotto. During his stay in New York, he won top prizes in many international competitions, including Pilar Bayona International Piano Competition, Hilton Head Island International Piano Competition, Frederick Chopin Competition in New York, and Hermanos Guerrero International Piano Competition, among others.
Mendez's professional teaching career began in 1996, when he was invited to teach master classes at the Gijon School of Music. Since then, he has given master classes in numerous cities in Spain, including Lugo, Aviles, Valencia, Gijon, Oviedo, Santiago de Compostela, and Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, as well as in the United States at top music schools such as Oberlin Conservatory, Northwestern University, University of Michigan, and Columbus State University. Mendez also taught as assistant teacher to Miyoko Lotto at the Perlman Music Program, a program for gifted young musicians founded by the world famous violinist Itzhak Perlman. Currently in the summers, he is the Artistic Director and on the faculty of the Gijon International Piano Festival in Gijon, Spain, as well as frequently being invited to perform and teach at various festivals, such as Atlantic Music Festival, Palmetto International Piano Festival, Porto Pianofest Rebecca Penneys Piano Festival, and Adamant Music Festival, among others.
Formerly on the piano faculty at University of Texas at Austin, New York University, Pennsylvania State University, and Northwestern University's Bienen School of Music, he is currently an Assistant Professor of Piano at the University of Northern Arizona, Flagstaff.
Her notable performances include replacing legendary pianist Abbey Simon in Los Angeles on LACMA's Sundays Live series, an appearance with the Sofia Sinfionetta in Sofia, Bulgaria, and a concert tour in Dallas, Texas, with her duo piano, Blue Duo. Other recent engagements have taken her to Spain, China and Canada, and she has also performed at venues in New York City, including Carnegie Hall's Weill Recital Hall, Steinway Hall, Trinity Church Wall Street, the Tenri Cultural Institute, the CAMI Hall and the Kosciuszko Foundation.
Born into a family of musicians, her talent became evident at an early age and she received much of her early piano instruction from her grandmother. By age 15, she had won several competitions, including the MTNA Baldwin Competition, and her success led her to move to New York City to continue her studies.
Since then, Gustafson has won numerous awards, including second prize in the International Piano Competition for Young Artists, second prize in the Joyce Dutka Arts Foundation Competition, and the Special Presentation Award and Alumni Award from Artists International Presentations, Inc.
Gustafson completed his studies at the Manhattan School of Music, New York University, and the University of Texas at Austin. His main teachers include Julian Martin, Andre-Michel Schub, Anton Nel, Constance Keene and Miyoko Lotto, and he has benefited from the advice of many renowned pedagogues, including Solomon Mikowsky, Arie Vardi, Veda Kaplinsky, Robert McDonald, Paul Badura-Skoda, Marc Durand, Martin Canin, Leslie Howard and Luiz de Moura Castro.
In addition to his performing career, Gustafson is on the piano faculty at Millersville University. She is executive director and teacher of the Gijón International Piano Festival, in Spain, as well as director of the Palmetto International Piano Festival, in South Carolina. Previously, Dr. Gustafson directed the Boal Mansion Museum Concert Series in Boalsburg, Pennsylvania, and the Stony Brook International Piano Festival in Stony Brook, New York.
His repertoire is eclectic, both in piano music and chamber music, from the great classics to contemporary music. He has commissioned and premiered works by William Bolcom, C. Curtis-Smith, Stephen Hough, Lowell Liebermann, Ned Rorem, Augusta Read Thomas, Earl Wild and James Wintle. Many of these new works appear on his recent recording "American Virtuoso" with Albany Records. A recording of works by Schumann and Prokofiev is available from the Master Musicians record company and a recent recording of works by Schubert.
His recital in Paris at the Salle Cortot in 2004 was described as "a true revelation, as a result of his artistry and his choice of program." After a recital at the Sibelius Academy, critics commented "Giles is a technically refined and elegant pianist." One London critic described his 2003 Wigmore Hall recital as "one of the most inspired piano recitals I have heard in a long time" and added that Giles "demonstrated astonishing intelligence in everything he played; it was an unforgettable recital."
He has performed with the St. Petersburg Chamber Philharmonic at Glinka Hall, the Jupiter Symphony in New York, the London Soloists at Queen Elizabeth Hall, the Kharkiv Philharmonic in Ukraine, and with the New York Opera Orchestra at Alice Tully Hall. After his debut at the Alice Tully, famed critic Harris Goldsmith wrote: "Giles has a very distinct playing personality. That was gorgeous piano – direct without quirks."
Born in North Carolina, Giles studied with Byron Janis at the Manhattan School of Music, Jerome Lowenthal at Juilliard, Nelita True at the Eastman School of Music, and Robert Shannon at Oberlin College. She received a scholarship from the Clarisse B. Kampel Foundation and also a Fulbright scholarship to study in Italy with legendary pianist Lazar Berman.
He also received a scholarship and the Christel Award from the American Pianists Association and today serves on the administrative board of the APA. He has won awards at the New Orleans International Piano Competition, the Joanna Hodges International Piano Competition, and the MTNA competition. As a student, he won the prestigious William Petschek Scholarship at Juilliard and the Rudolf Serkin Award for Exceptional Students at Oberlin College.
He has published articles in Piano and Keyboard magazine and has presented recitals and lectures at the Music Teachers National Association, the College Music Society, and Phi Kappa Lambda. He frequently participates as a jury in international competitions.
Giles is currently director of the piano program at Northwestern University. He offers master classes and lectures throughout his country and has given summer classes at Bowdoin, Brevard, ARIA, and the Schlern Festival in Italy. He has also been a visiting professor at the Sibelius Academy, the Shanghai Conservatory and Indiana University.
Currently listed on the Artists Roster of Steinway and Sons, Mr. Humpherys often performs in Europe, with solo concerts in Moscow, Novgorod, Berlin, Hamburg, Prague, Venice, and Dublin, with additional engagements in Germany, Spain, the Czech Republic, Montenegro, and Serbia. He has performed throughout the United States and Canada at numerous universities and festivals. Recently, he was a guest artist with the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra, and performed on the DiMenna Center Piano Series in New York City. In 2008 and 2012, he concertized and taught in Argentina with Teachers del Norte-Pianists del Sur, a project sponsored in part by the United States Embassy in Buenos Aires.
Mr. Humpherys completed graduate degrees at the Juilliard School (MM) and the Eastman School of Music (DMA), where he served for twenty years as Chair of the Piano Department, and is currently Professor of Piano.
During his student days he studied with Nelita True, Martin Canin, and Robert Smith. In high demand as a teacher, he has been appointed to visiting residencies or professorships at the Central Conservatory in Beijing, Yonsei University in Seoul, and the University of Michigan. His students have won numerous honors in competitions, including prizes at the Honens, Cleveland, Virginia Waring, Hilton Head, Washington DC, Poulenc, UNISA, and Sussex (UK) International Piano Competitions; the Osaka, Pacific, Seattle, San Jose, and Wideman Competitions, as well as five national first-prize winners of MTNA Competitions. In 2016, Professor Humpherys received Eastman’s Eisenhart Award for Excellence in Teaching, and in 2021 he was inducted into the Steinway and Sons National Teachers Hall of Fame.
He has taught hundreds of master classes at universities and conservatories including the Central Music School of the Moscow Tchaikovsky Conservatory, most of the major conservatories in China, the Hong Kong Academy of the Performing Arts, the Korean National University of the Arts, National Taiwan Normal University, and the Royal Irish Academy of Music. He frequently teaches and concertizes at Summer Piano Festivals, most recently including the Bowdoin International Music Festival, the Beijing International Piano Festival, the Shanghai International Piano Festival and Institute, the Gijon International Piano Festival in Spain, the Wallace International Piano Festival in New Zealand, the Philadelphia Young Pianists Academy, the
Washington DC International Piano Festival, the Interlochen Piano Festival, the Miami Music Festival, the Seattle Piano Institute, the Atlantic Music Festival, the North Coast International Piano Festival in California, and the Northern Lights Music Festival.
Mr. Humpherys became the Artistic Director of the Gina Bachauer International Piano Competition in 2013, and has also adjudicated the Cleveland International Piano Competition, the Rachmaninoff International Young Artists’ Piano Competition in Novgorod, Russia, the Ricardo Viñes International Piano Competition in Spain, the 1st Korea International Competition for Young Artists, the PTNA National Piano Competition in Tokyo, and the Hilton Head International Piano Competition.
Ms. Lin made her debut with the National Symphony Orchestra at the Kennedy Center in 1981, and has since lead a dynamic life as a musician, performing in recital and as soloist with orchestra in the USA, Germany, France, Italy, Belgium, Switzerland, Austria, Latvia, Brazil, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, and New Caledonia. In addition to her solo performances, she is an avid chamber musician, having performed with Hilary Hahn, Kyung Sun Lee, Qian Zhou, Natsumi Tamai, Lei Hou, Reto Kuppel, Hillel Zori, Jean-Claude Vanden-Eynden, Mathieu Dufour, Sylvia Careddu, Sébastien Giot and Laurent Lefèvre, among others.
As a recording artist, Amy Lin has recorded CDs of works by Schubert, Beethoven, Schumann, Chopin, Debussy, contemporary Chinese composers (Chou Wen-Chung, Chen Yi, Zhou Long, Tan Dun, Qigang Chen, Xiaoyong Chen, Keeyong Chong) and recently completed a traversal of the complete piano sonatas of Mozart in five CDs, which received critical acclaim. Her concerts and recordings have been broadcast by major radio stations in the US, in France and in Germany.
Amy Lin takes special interest in the great Viennese tradition, music of Mozart, Beethoven and Schubert which she studied intensively with her masters. For several years she has also shown a growing interest in contemporary repertoire, working closely with numerous composers ( Chou Wen-Chung, Keeyong Chong, Pascal Dusapin, Hugues Dufourt, Martin Matalon, Luis de Pablo, Doina Rotaru…). Most recently she initiated and coordinated a recording project of the complete piano solo works of the great French composer Hugues Dufourt, in which eight brilliant young pianists under her direction received the composer’s detailed guidance in interpreting his works. The double CD released in September 2023 by the German label Coviello Classics has already received critical acclaim in Europe; Swiss radio and television RTS named it one of its five notable classical recordings of 2023.
An inspiring, dedicated and much sought-after teacher, Amy Lin has been a professor at the Académie Supérieure and Conservatoire de Musique de Strasbourg in France since 1998. She guides her students’ musical and professional development, encourages and assists them in working on projects together, and nurtures their overall growth as people as well as musicians. Her students come from the four corners of the world and many of them have gone on to lead active musical lives.
Ms. Lin is regularly invited for masterclasses at Yale University and at the Royal Conservatory of Brussels in Belgium (KCB), and has given masterclasses at many other leading music schools such as Northwestern University, Peabody Institute, Seoul National University, Taipei National University of Arts, Musikhichschule of Weimar in Germany, and Universities of São Paulo & Porto Alegro in Brazil. During the summer, she teaches at the Académie MusicAlp in Tignes in France, and has been invited to perform and hold masterclasses at festivals in Paris, Nancy, and Bordeaux.
As an recipient of the Fulbright Senior Scholar Lecture and Research Grant in 1996, Amy Lin spent five months in Brazil where she performed throughout the country in recital and as soloist with orchestra, in addition to giving masterclasses at six universities and doing research on Brazilian music.
Amy Lin was born in Taiwan, she holds a Bachelor’s degree in mathematics from the Johns Hopkins University, and speaks Chinese, English, French and some German. She enjoys traveling and is interested in poetry, calligraphy and philosophy.
Photo copyright: Pascale de Srebnicki
Over the years, he has developed extensive experience in both solo and chamber music repertoire. His eloquent speech, musicality and the collaborative spirit he brings to every performance make him a highly coveted collaborator with top musicians in Canada and abroad.
He has received numerous awards in national and international competitions, including the William Kapell International Competition, Prix d'Europe and the Leschetizsky Competition.
Saulnier has played in Canada, the United States, South America and Europe. He has been a guest soloist with renowned orchestras such as the Montreal Symphony Orchestra, the Quebec Symphony Orchestra, the Orchester Métropolitain, the Rochester Philharmonic, and I Musici de Montréal. He has also participated in major Canadian music festivals and on CBC radio.
He has recorded chamber music repertoire for the Pelléas, Atma, Analekta and Doberman-Yppan label together with the cellist Yegor Dyachkov and the clarinetist André Moisan.
Unexpectedly, Saulnier discovered a particular Pleyel from 1848 that led him to participate in extensive research on the interpretation of Chopin's works. A recital recording on this piano has been praised by critics for its refinement and originality.
Saulnier studied with Marc Durand, Leon Fleisher and André Laplante. His doctorate at the University of Montreal obtained the Academic Gold Medal.
For the last twenty years he has been a professor at the Montreal University of Music. He is also a guest lecturer at Orford Arts Center and teaches master classes at numerous educational institutions.
He frequently participates as a jury in national and international competitions.
Los profesores de Skelton han sido John Murphy, Rebecca Penneys, Lillian Freundlich y Artur Balsam. Sus propios alumnos han ganado premios en concursos nacionales e internacionales incluyendo Hilton Head, San Antonio, Cincinati, Washington, Bartok-Kabalevsky-Prokofiev, Fischoff, Jacob Flier, Iowa, Frinna Awerbach, Eastman, Crescendo, Dallas Chamber, Missouri Southern, Los Angeles Liszt, Wideman, Concorso Internazionale di Esecuzione Musicale, Schimmel, Liszt-Garrison, Grieg Festival, Del Rosario, Beethoven Sonata, Ithaca, Piano Arts, Heida Hermanns, Dubois, Schmidbauer, Peabody Mason, Janacek, Seattle, Kingsville, New York, Oberlin, Idyllwild y los concursos de MTNA. Muchos de sus alumnos son profesores en escuelas de música y conservatories por todo el mundo. Recientemente, ha recibido el premio “Harold Haugh” por excelencia en impartir clase de piano en la Universidad de Michigan. Ha servido en el profesorado de Manhattan School of Music y la Universidad del Estado de Missouri,y ahora es profesor de piano y director de los estudios doctorales en la Universidad de Michigan.
Team
cultural events. With a solid musical background and a passion for organization and
event production, Andrea plays the role of Event Coordinator and
Production at the Gijón International Piano Festival.
Andrea began her musical career at an early age, quickly standing out for her
interpretive skill and sensitivity. He completed his higher piano studies at
Conservatory of Music of Oviedo and later at the Conservatory of
Amsterdam, where he perfected his technique and deepened his piano repertoire. Ha
participated in numerous concerts and festivals both nationally and
internationally, establishing herself as a highly talented performer.
As Events and Production Coordinator, Andrea García is responsible for planning
and execute all festival activities, ensuring that each event runs smoothly.
setbacks and meet the highest quality standards. Your meticulous attention
to details and his ability to coordinate teams and resources make possible the
holding concerts, master classes and cultural activities that enrich the
experience of participants and spectators.
Andrea combines her love of music with her organizational skills to create events
memorable ones that celebrate the art of the piano. Your commitment and dedication are
fundamental to the success of the Gijón International Piano Festival, consolidating it
as a cultural reference in the region.