My composition contest "Estampas de España" (Final results and winners)

So far this has been the biggest musical project I have ever done. It took me many days of work, organization, promoting the proposal, talking to people, etc. I started planning it around late September of 2023 and now I'm giving the results in July of 2024. It has been a headache, but totally worth it, because I will always remember it.
This is only the beginning, as I will organize bigger projects in the upcoming years. Stay tunned!

I'm proud to present you a sample of the finalists that made it into the official collaborative set of compositions. Congratulations to Nikita Shestakov and Theodore Serving for winning the first and second prizes respectively, both of your compositions are extraordinary. Shestakov's piece offers a really complex and compelling musical language that expresses strong emotions through some of the most impressive Rachmaninoff-like piano writing you will ever see. Servin's composition takes us on a journey of the soul, with a special kind of sensibility distilled into beautiful melodies with Spanish hues on top of breathtaking and idiomatic romantic piano writing.

The honorable mentions are amazing compositions as well. Annyuk's piece is the most Spanish piece of the collab and serves as a perfect homenage to the Spanish masters, full of musicality and beautiful moments. Batista's composition shines for his highly original harmonic and textural material, organized into a compelling structure that symbolizes a methamorphosis perfectly. Rodríguez's piece was a surprise to us, the writing is perfectly compatible with the Spanish masters of Renaissance and Early Baroque and showsimpeccable technique coupled with a really well developed musicality (specialized in that style).

(I will start paying everyone their prizes this week. For the big prizes I might take until August, but it will for sure happen before 31/08/2024)



List of people accepted in the project:


Nikita Shestakov (1st prize winner), "Deadly Alive": 0:18
His channel:    / @nikitashestakov.  

Theodore Servin (2nd prize winner), "Meditation in C major": 2:57
His piece and channel:    • Meditation in C major, Op. 18, after ...  

Nazariy Annyuk (Honorable mention), "Fête à Málaga": 4:11
His channel:    / @nazann23  

Gerson Batista (Honorable mention), "El nacimiento del nuevo hombre": 5:07
His channel:    / @gersonbatista  

Chino Rodríguez ("Gaspar") (Honorable mention), "El Martirio de San Esteban": 5:49
His recording and channel:    • EL MARTIRIO DE SAN ESTEBAN (ORIGINAL ...  

Jay Beard, "Portrait of Daniel-Henry Kahnweiler": 6:20
His piece and channel:    • Portrait of Daniel-Henry Kahnweiler (...  

Elias Valle, "Flowing Stone": 6:47
His piece and channel:    • Flowing Stone (for Solo Piano)  
His scorefolio: https://scorefol.io/@eliasvalle

Gwendolyn Przyjazna, "Naturaleza Muerta Resucitando": 7:16
Her soundcloud:   / d4tbc  


Rest of participants who submitted a composition:

(Playlist to be edited)
   • Rest of participants (Estampas de Esp...  


Organizers:

Ferran López-Carrasquer (jury member and performer):    / @carrasquercomposer  
Alejandro Nogales Almagro (jury):    / @alejandronogalesalmagro1980  
Rafael Sánchez Mombiedro (jury):    / rafaels%c3%a1nchezmombiedro  
Jose Antonio Tolosa:    / @joseantoniotolosapianist8821  


Thanks to everyone for making this possible! Let's revive classical music together.

(Old video:    • Composition contest (+700€ in prizes)...  )