Armands Ābols is a

Latvia Latvia, officially the Republic of Latvia, is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is one of the three Baltic states, along with Estonia to the north and Lithuania to the south. It borders Russia to the east and Belarus to t ...

n pianist. In 1992 Abols won at 18 Barcelona's Maria Canals International Music Competition. Three years later he took part at the XIII Paloma O'Shea Competition, the dean of Spanish piano competitions; he made it to the finals, ranking along the rest of the finalists second to Enrico Pompili - the Grand Prize was declared void, a decision Ābols criticised. In 1993 he began a concert career, regularly performing through South America. In the mid-90s he settled in

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes, Andes Mountains and the Paci ...

. Since 2003 he holds a professorship at the conservatory of the

Austral University of Chile Austral University of Chile ( or UACh) is a Chilean research university based primarily in Valdivia, with satellite campuses in Puerto Montt and Coyhaique. Founded on September 7, 1954, it is one of the eight original Chilean Traditional Universi ...

References

Semanas Musicales de Frutillar

1973 births Latvian classical pianists Academic staff of the Austral University of Chile Maria Canals International Music Competition prize-winners Living people Latvian emigrants to Chile 21st-century classical pianists Musicians from Valdivia {{Latvia-bio-stub