This is the Carmel Klavier International Piano Competition for Young Artists, which takes place annually in Indiana, United States, and in which more than 200 pianists from China, Hong Kong, Japan, the United States, Canada, Mexico, participated. Colombia, Israel and other countries.
Saúl Ibarra participated in three categories, obtaining the following results: Grand Prix, in the Concert with Orchestra category; Grand Prix, in the category of Contemporary Composers and second prize in the category of Soloist.
He was the most awarded pianist of the contest, achieving a record by obtaining all the perfect qualifications by the international jury in the Concert with Orchestra category.
The jury was composed by the renowned pianists Peter Takacs (Romania / United States, professor at the Conservatory of Oberlin, Ohio), Pawel Checinski (Poland, PhD at the Juilliard School of Music), Patrick Lechner (Austria / China, director of music at the Chengdu University, in China), Cheng Wai (Hong Kong, graduate of the Curtis Institute, Yale University and New York University), Aviram Reichert (Israel, Van Cliburn Competition medalist and professor at the Seoul Conservatory, Korea del Sur) and Phoenix Park-Kim (South Korea, professor at Indiana Wesleyan University in the United States).