User:Clem470pianist/sandbox

Jose Maria Contreras (born November 25, 1937, died June 7, 1995) was a Filipino pianist from Capiz, Philippines. His parents were Jose Contreras and Maria Bermejo. He received his first musical training in Roxas City. He studied at the University of San Agustin in Iloilo City for high school. At the Colegio del Sagrado Corazon de Jesus he earned his Bachelor of Music degree in piano, magna cum laude, at the age of 17.

In Manila, he earned his artist’s diploma in 1957 under a Lucia Francisco scholarship, with Regalado Jose as his mentor. He then won in a piano competition sponsored by the Italian government and was sent to Rome for further studies. He attended the masterclasses of Carlo Zecchi and Renzo Silvestri at the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia in Rome and at the Mozarteum in Salzburg, as well as the masterclasses of Nikita Magaloff. During the first six years of his stay in Europe, Contreras won twice in the Viotti International Piano Competition, fourth place in 1960 and second place in 1962 in the Alfredo Casella International Piano Competition, and third place in the 1963 Ferruccio Busoni International Piano Competition (the first place was not awarded). From then on, he became a familiar name in the concert halls on the continent.

From 1963 to 1966, he studied with Rosina Lhévinne at the Juilliard School of Music and earned his Diploma in Piano (1965) and a Master of Science in Piano (1966). In 1966, he participated as a semi-finalist in the Leeds International Piano Competition.

Returning to Europe from New York, Contreras resumed his concertizing as a soloist with the Orchestra dell’ Accademia di Santa Cecilia at the Auditorium in Via Conciliazione and at the Basilica di Massenzio, as well as with the orchestras of Teatro San Carlos in Naples; AIDEM Orchestra of Florence, Symphony Orchestra of Verona; Comunale Orchestra of Bologna; Sicilian Symphony Orchestra of Palermo; Wiener Kamerorchester of Vienna; Italian Radio Orchestras of Rome, Naples, Milano, and Torino; Irish Radio and Television Orchestra of Dublin, Romanian Radio and Television Orchestra of Bucharest; the Philharmonia Orchestra of Sofia in Bulgaria, Bratislava in Czechoslovakia, and Zagreb in Yugoslavia. Besides Italy, he performed in Austria, Ireland, Switzerland, France, and Greece. He also performed in the Alice Tully Hall in Lincoln Center, New York.

He returned to the Philippines and served as an artist-in-residence at St. Scholastica's College. He also taught at the University of the Philippines College of Music and among his students there were internationally renowned choral conductor Jonathan Velasco and esteemed musicologist Jose Buenconsejo.