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 (Madrid, Moscow and New York) 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.
Jury Dmitry Alexeev Klaus Hellwig Jerome Lowenthal Luis Pereira Leal Sergio Perticaroli Jerome Rose Jacques Rouvier Yang Liqing
Maria Tipo could not travel to Santander due to health problems.
Competition results, by rounds
First round July 25–27, 16:00-23:00. Palacio de Festivales, Sala Pereda. Recital. Alina Artemyeva Lucas Blondeel Stefan Ciric Emmanuel Christien François Dumont Kotarô Fukuma Vyacheslav Gryaznov Violetta Khachikian Ka Ling Colleen Lee Hyo Sun Lim Wu Muye Akiko Nikami Yuma Osaki Shizuka Susanna Salvemini Anastasya Terenkova Jue Wang Andrey Yaroshinsky Avan Yu Yubo Zhou Zuo Zhang
Second round July 29-August 1, 16:00-23:00. Palacio de Festivales, Sala Pereda. Recital + Chamber music (quintet). Alina Artemyeva Lucas Blondeel Stefan Ciric Emmanuel Christien Kotarô Fukuma Ka Ling Colleen Lee Hyo Sun Lim Wu Muye Shizuka Susanna Salvemini Jue Wang Andrey Yaroshinsky Avan Yu
Semi-finals August 3–4, 21:00. Palacio de Festivales, Sala Argenta. Mozart piano concerto. Kotarô Fukuma Ka Ling Colleen Lee Shizuka Susanna Salvemini Jue Wang Andrey Yaroshinsky Avan Yu Real Philharmonía de Galicia. Juanjo Mena, conductor.
Final August 6. Palacio de Festivales, Sala Argenta. Symphonic piano concerto. Shizuka Susanna Salvemini Jue Wang Avan Yu Dresden Philharmonic. Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos, conductor.
First Prize: Jue Wang Second Prize: Avan Yu Third Prize: Shizuka Susanna Salvemini Audience Prize: Avan Yu
References
See also Paloma O'Shea International Piano Competition