Pianist from Iguala, Guerrero, wins international competition in Vienna

A 15-year-old pianist from Iguala, Guerrero, won an international music competition in Vienna, Austria, this week.

Aranza Ortega Jaimes, a student of the National Conservatory of Music, won the 13-15 years piano division of the Grand Prize Virtuoso Vienna 2022, which also has categories for string and wind instruments as well as singing and chamber music.

She played Frédéric Chopin’s Scherzo No. 1 in B minor, Opus 20 in the competition, held Tuesday in the Musikverein concert hall in the Austrian capital.

Ortega, who has been playing piano since she was seven, told the newspaper Reforma that she was very happy to represent Mexico on the international stage.

“I’m very pleased that the name of my country was in the program, I got very excited. I’m also very happy because I felt a lot of support from my teachers,” she said.

Ortega noted that the National Institute of Fine Arts supported her financially so she could travel to Vienna.

“It was an experience that meant a lot to me and it gave me the impetus to keep wanting to play piano,” she said.

In a post on Twitter, Mexico’s Embassy in Austria congratulated the young musician on her victory in the event, which was open to musicians of all ages and nationalities.

“She had the opportunity to debut in one of the most important halls of Europe, Gläserner Saal at the Musikverein in Vienna,” the post added. 

With reports from Reforma