As first-prize winner of the XIII George Enescu International Piano Competition in Bucharest (previous winners include the legendary pianists Radu Lupu and Elisabeth Leonskaja) and the XV José Iturbi International Piano Competition, the Spanish pianist Josu De Solaun has been invited to perform in distinguished concert series throughout the world, having made notable appearances in Bucharest (Romanian Athenaeum), St Petersburg (Mariinsky Theatre), Washington DC (Kennedy Center), New York (Carnegie Hall, Metropolitan Opera), London (Southbank Centre), Paris (Salle Cortot), Mexico City (Sala Silvestre Revueltas), Ravello (Festival di Ravello), Menton (Festival International de Musique), and all major cities of Spain.
He has played as soloist with orchestras such as the Mariinsky Theatre Orchestra, St Petersburg, the Moscow Chamber Orchestra, the Orchestra Filarmonica della Fenice, Venice, the Spanish National Radio and TV Orchestra, the George Enescu Philharmonic Orchestra of Bucharest, the Janáček Philharmonic Orchestra, and the Mexico City Philharmonic Orchestra.
He is the only pianist from Spain to win the Enescu and Iturbi competitions respectively, and was invited to a private reception with the King and Queen of Spain at the Royal Palace after winning the coveted Bucharest prize.
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 Gutierrez. In Spain, where he studied until the age of seventeen, his main teachers were Ricardo Roca, Ana Guijarro, and especially, Maria Teresa Naranjo.
He now combines his performing career with a teaching position at Sam Houston State University, and lives between New York City and Houston.
Josu de Solaun and George Enescu: a collection of accolades
Josu de Solaun – Historias de un pianista