Opening a concert for Musical Bridges Around the World featuring three stellar pianists, Jonathan Gurwitz told a story about his mother, Ruth Jean Gurwitz.
“In the 1980s… my mother and a group of friends traveled to cities across the nation and around the world to hear the world's great pianists,” Gurwitz said. “And she asked, ‘Why should San Antonians have to travel to other places to hear those pianists, and why shouldn't people from other cities come to San Antonio to hear them?’”
The San Antonio International Piano Competition was born, and in 2020 was renamed the Gurwitz International Piano Competition, after Ruth Jean, by its new stewards, Musical Bridges Around the World.
In 2024, more than 3,000 people attended Gurwitz Competition events, and a quarter million watched online over the course of the competition, said Jonathan Gurwitz.
“With so much that is happening in our nation and the world that divides people, we are blessed to be here on this beautiful winter evening in San Antonio, in this historic cathedral, to hear three of the world's finest pianists from China, Russia and South Korea,” Jonathan Gurwitz said.
This program, recorded on Feb. 9, 2025 at San Fernando Cathedral, features 2024 Gurwitz Gold Medalist Yungyung Guo, Silver Medalist Tatiana Dorokhova, and Bronze Medalist Young Sun Choi.
The concert includes beautiful melodies by Sergei Rachmaninoff, and a frenetic piece by György Ligeti that Yungyung Guo joked is “maybe not very adorable” compared to the Mozart she also performed. But it’s fascinating to hear!
The show also includes the world premiere of “San Antonio Celebration,” written by 2024 Gurwitz juror Michael Fine especially for these three pianists to perform together, side-by-side with six hands at one piano.
Listen to the full concert using the audio link at the top of this page. Watch a video excerpt using the embedded YouTube video below.
PROGRAM:
- Sergei Rachmaninoff: 2 Pieces for 6 Hands, Waltz and Romance, played by Yungyung Guo, Tatiana Dorokhova, and Young Sun Choi
- Enrique Granados: Goyescas No. 4, played by Young Sun Choi
- Traditional: Arirang, played by Young Sun Choi
- Sergei Prokofiev: Juliet the Young Girl, played by Tatiana Dorokhova
- Sergei Prokofiev: Romeo and Juliet before Parting, played by Tatiana Dorokhova
- Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Andante in F Major, K. 616, played by Yungyung Guo
- György Ligeti: Etude No. 13, "The Devil's Staircase," played by Yungyung Guo
- Albert Lavignac: Galop-Marche for 6 hands, played by Yungyung Guo, Tatiana Dorokhova, and Young Sun Choi
- Michael Fine: San Antonio Celebration, played by Yungyung Guo, Tatiana Dorokhova, and Young Sun Choi
