Santa Cecília International Festival – Between two generations of pianists, Porto never stopped listening
The 2026 edition of the Santa Cecília International Piano Festival closed its main category on 27 June, at the end of nine days in which Porto brought together artists, jurors, teachers and audiences around the piano — and around everything that can be thought, in its orbit, about music, generation and the future.
Close to 200 applications, from more than 35 nationalities, reached the organisation ahead of the in-person stage. After pre-selection, 40 pianists travelled to Porto, representing Europe, Asia, the Americas and the Middle East — a map that confirms the competition’s growth and its reach within the international piano community.
The programme was not limited to competition. The opening concert, with an album launch, featured Bogdan Dugalić, winner of the previous edition — continuity between generations of laureates now building careers. For the first time, the required repertoire included a work by Amílcar Vasques-Dias, extending the competition to contemporary Portuguese composition.
In Casa da Música’s Sala Suggia, the semi-final took the form of chamber music, in collaboration with Quarteto do Porto — soloists of the Porto Symphony Orchestra Casa da Música — asking competitors for listening and dialogue, not solo technique alone. This was followed by Piano Itinerante, which took the semi-finalists to Casa do Infante and to the Museu Romântico, with free concerts that filled the venues — the festival stepping off the conventional stage and into the city’s heritage. A partnership with Metro do Porto, which included a concert at the Casa da Música station, reinforced that urban presence.
In parallel, the 4th Alink-Argerich Foundation conference brought to Porto directors of international competitions, teachers and researchers, turning the festival into a space for reflection on the piano sector as well.
The Grand Final, with the Porto Symphony Orchestra Casa da Música under the direction of Martin André, closed the main category. Ukrainian pianist Roman Lopantynskyi won, with a prize of 35,000 euros, a schedule of concerts with partner institutions and an album recording.
Throughout this edition, Casa da Música was the festival’s hosting partner — home to a semi-final, a final and an orchestra placed at the service of a programme that brought together competition and training.
As this account closes, a new phase of the festival is already under way. Until 18 July, Casa da Música is hosting the rounds of the Santa Cecília International Junior Competition (CISC Junior), the strand of the festival dedicated to pianists up to the age of 18, coming from all over the world. The eliminatory and final rounds take place in Rehearsal Room 1 and Room 2, with masterclasses, recitals and a music marathon filling the week. Everything concludes on 18 July, with the laureates’ concert and the prize-giving ceremony.