Josu de Solaun

Biography

Spanish pianist Josu De Solaun is a First Prize winner of the XIII. George Enescu International Piano Competition in Bucharest (succeeding legendary pianists such as Radu Lupu and Elisabeth Leonskaja), the XV. José Iturbi International Piano Competition and the First European Union Piano Competition held in Prague. He is the only pianist from Spain to win the Enescu and Iturbi competitions in their respective histories.

Josu De Solaun has been invited to perform in distinguished concert series throughout the world, having made notable appearances in Bucharest (Romanian Athenaeum), Venice (Teatro La Fenice), Saint Petersburg (Mariinsky Theatre), Washington, DC (Kennedy Center), New York (Carnegie Hall, Metropolitan Opera), Princeton (Taplin Hall), London (Southbank Centre), Paris (Salle Cortot), Leipzig (Schumann Haus), Taipei (Novel Hall), Mexico City (Sala Silvestre Revueltas), Prague (Nostitz Palace), Rome (Academia de España), Menton (Festival de Musique de Menton), and all major cities of Spain.

Beginning at a young age, Josu De Solaun has performed in France, Georgia, Italy, Russia, Ukraine, Canada, Germany, Japan, China, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Poland, the Netherlands, Mexico, Chile, and Switzerland as a recitalist, chamber musician, and concerto soloist.

He has concertized with many international orchestras such as Mariinsky Theatre Orchestra of Saint Petersburg, Rudolf Barshai Moscow Chamber Orchestra, George Enescu Philharmonic of Bucharest, National Radio Orchestra of Romania, Janáček Philharmonic Orchestra, Orquesta Sinfónica de Bilbao, Orquesta de Valencia, Real Filharmonía de Galicia, Spain’s Radio and Television Orchestra (RTVE), Orchestra Filarmonica la Fenice of Venice, Bari Symphony Orchestra of Italy, American Ballet Theatre Orchestra of New York, Sioux City Symphony Orchestra, Monterey Symphony Orchestra and Mexico City Philharmonic Orchestra, among many others.
His performances have been broadcast on Spanish National Radio and TV, Taiwanese and Czech National TV, as well as on New York’s WQXR, Princeton’s WPRB, and Chicago’s WFMT.

Josu De Solaun’s repertoire includes rare piano concertos like Bernstein’s Symphony No. 2 The Age of Anxiety, Giuseppe Martucci’s 2nd Piano Concerto, Britten’s Diversions, Hummel’s A Minor Piano Concerto, Constantinescu’s Piano Concerto, as well as the complete concerti of Liszt, Rachmaninov, Prokofiev, and Bartók. In addition, his passion also belongs to chamber music – as for the literature itself but also for the non-verbal communication between musicians.
He has recorded the complete works for piano of George Enescu and Les Noces by Stravinsky with JoAnn Falletta as conductor. Future releases will include an album of Czech piano music, and concertos by Liszt and Bartók.

Josu De Solaun is a graduate of the Manhattan School of Music, where his two main teachers and main musical influences have been pianists Nina Svetlanova and Horacio Gutiérrez.