Jury for the second Carlos Prieto Latin-American Cello Competition at the Conservatorio in Morelia, Mexico (June 2002). From left to right: José Luis Gálvez, Alvaro Bitrán, Edgar Fischer, William Molina, Carlos Prieto, Jesús Castro-Balbi, and Antonio Lauro del Claro.

This summer, I was invited to be a juror at the second Carlos Prieto Latin-American Cello Competition, held in Morelia, Mexico, from June 16 to 22. Six other judges representing countries from Latin America were also present. Alvaro Bitrán, from Mexico, is the cellist of the Grammy Award-winning Cuarteto Latinoamericano and a former student of Janos Starker at Indiana University-Bloomington. Brazilian cellist Antonio Lauro del Claro studied in Geneva with Pierre Fournier, and served as the principal cello of the Sào Paulo Symphony Orchestra and as a professor there. Cellist Edgar Fischer studied with Leonard Rose at Juilliard from 1962-64, was the principal cellist of the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande for seven years, and is currently a professor in his native Chile. Mexican cellist José-Luis Galvez, cello professor and chair of the strings department at the Morelia Conservatory, is a graduate of the Gnessin Institute in Moscow and the competition coordinator. William Molina, from Venezuela, is the founder of the Latin-American Cello Academy in Caracas and graduated from the Paris Conservatoire National Supérieur, studying with Philippe Muller, André Navarra, and Paul Tortelier. Finally, Mexican cellist Carlos Prieto studied with Leonard Rose and Pierre Fournier, is a Massachusetts Institute of Technology graduate, has a busy, world-wide concert career, and is a major proponent of new music from Latin America.

Before the performances started, two rules were adopted to ensure a fair judging: the highest and the lowest scores would be eliminated, and a teacher could not vote for his student's performance. Also, we agreed to base our evaluation on three criteria: technique, musicianship, and presence. I looked for performances that would not only display a musical sensitivity, imagination, and an efficient technique, but also present a strong personality, while being consistently convincing in the different styles of repertoire. While each round was evaluated independently, the final awards reflected the whole competition. This year, the second prize was split between José-David Márquez of Venezuela and Fernando Gentile of Argentina. Sara Cortinas of Mexico (a student of Harvey Shapiro at Juilliard) and Venezuelan Yolena Orea tied for the third prize, and Ivan Kulikov of the Ukraine received a certificate as a finalist. (The first prize was not awarded.)

The Carlos Prieto Competition is unique in its scope and goals within the world of cello contests. Held every two years, it aims to promote the cello activity in Latin America, by inviting any Latin-American person by birth (or citizens of any country who have resided in Latin America for at least one year) to compete. (As a contestant in the first competition, held two years ago, I represented Peru.) This year, some competitors were nationals of England, Russia, and the Ukraine, while others were Latin American but are currently studying in Germany or in the U.S.

Another objective of the competition is to promote works by Latin-American composers, by requiring one piece of this underrepresented repertoire in the second round. Similarly, the judges were featured in recitals that included works by Latin-American composers along with the standard literature. Together with pianist Gloria Yi-Chen Lin, I presented works by Samuel Barber, Luigi Boccherini, and Rossini, and gave the Mexican premiere of works by Joan Guinjoan (from Spain) and by young Argentine composer Esteban Benzecry.

Another point is that this competition cares for its prize winners. For instance, as the first-prize winner of the first competition, I recently recorded Samuel Zyman's Suite for Two Cellos with Carlos Prieto for Urtext Digital Classics, and regularly receive recital and concerto performances throughout Latin America. To me, the second Carlos Prieto Latin-American Cello Competition was a fair, inspiring, and purposeful event for cellists and musicians in Latin America and beyond.