Cuban pianist and composer Marialy Pacheco, who lives in Germany, won the first prize in the soloist category at the 2012 instalment of the Montreux Piano Competition. She is the first woman to have won the prize in the competition’s history of fifteen years. Said Leszek Możdżer about the jury’s decision: “Deciding between the three [finalists] was tough. In the end, the contestants’ joy in performing and her authenticity guided our decision making.”

Marialy Pacheco was born in 1983 in Havana, into a family of musicians. In 2002 she won the Cuban Jo-Jazz Havana competition, where Grammy Award-winner Chucho Valdés was presiding over the jury. Two years later she released her first album, Bendiciones.

Following a 2013 concert where she played along with Valentina Lisitsa and Maria Mazo, in 2014 she was named an official “Bösendorfer Artist.” Also in 2014, she made her debut as a classical performer, playing the solo part of a Bach piano concerto in Australia.

marialypacheco.com