# Rodrigo García Ameneiro conquered the Grand Prize of the Rocky Mountain Music Competition

**Date:** 08/14/2021

The young Cuban pianist Rodrigo García Ameneiro won the Grand Prize of the Rocky Mountain Music Competition, alongside Polish violinist Rozalia Bryla. The competition brought together more than one hundred contestants from the most diverse regions of the world.

Based in Toronto, Canada, the virtual event featured prestigious figures from the musical scene and great piano pedagogues from the United States, Russia, Jamaica, the Czech Republic, and Austria as judges.

García Ameneiro competed with the work "The Dance of the Violet Dragon," by Cuban composer Aldo López-Gavilán Junco, which distinguished him among other contestants, since generally in this type of event a piece from the traditional classical repertoire is presented. In this case, according to observers, it was somewhat unusual given that it involved contemporary Cuban music.

Rodrigo García Ameneiro has been awarded on multiple occasions alongside violinist Tania Haase, with whom he makes up the duo Espira. One of these is the Chamber Music Prize, in the Master category, at the Medici International Music Competition. Last year they achieved the highest recognition of the Musicalia 2021 Competition, awarded by the School of Music at the University of the Arts of Cuba, in the category of formats or instrumental ensembles.

García Ameneiro has achieved highest-level accomplishments such as the award for best composition at the Stanford Jazz Workshop 2016; first place in the international Vivo competition (2018) at Carnegie Hall in New York; and the special prize at the Grand Prize Virtuoso Amsterdam competition (2019), alongside violinist Tania Haase.