Young pianists from all over the world are gathering in Old Havana for the 3rd Young Pianists Encounter from June 4 through 28.

Organized by the Historian Office’s Esteban Salas Musical Heritage Department, directed by Cuban musicologist, Miriam Escudero, and Salomón Gadles Mikowsky,  the encounter’s venues include the famous Saint Francis of Assisi Minor Basilica Concert Hall, the Ignacio Cervantes and the Martí Theater.

Meanwhile, the International Piano Competition and Festival, Musicalia 2015, is running parallel to the encounter at the San Felipe Neri Oratorium, the headquarters of Havana’s Mozarteum Lyceum and the Cuban Art University Piano Division. Presided over by maestro Ulises Hernández, the competition’s jury is made up of Salomón Gadles Mikowsky, Ninowska Fernández-Brito, Antonio Carbonell, Adonis González and Mauricio Vallina.

The gathering includes master lectures, concerts and the presentation of books, such as Ignacio Cervantes y la danza en Cuba (Ignacio Cervantes and dance in Cuba), by Salomón Gadles Mikowsky and El legado pianístico pedagógico de Salomón Gadles Mikowsky (Salomón Gadles Mikowsky’s piano teaching legacy), by Kookhee Hong, the two books published by Spain’s Boloña Publishing House, and the Opus Habana magazine.

The encounter’s opening gala took place at the Martí Theater on Thursday, featuring the performance of Adam Kent from the United States, Alexandre Moutouzkine from Russia and the Cuban National Symphony, conducted by Enrique Pérez Mesa.