Miami, October 9, 2026. The Miami International Piano Festival (MIPF) and the Festival Internacional de Piano Rafael Orozco of Córdoba ratified their partnership today with the signing of the Protocol of Intent between the City of Córdoba and the Miami festival. The ceremony took place at the Residence of the Consul General of Spain in Miami, Mrs. Belén Alfaro Hernández, who hosted the signing and the presentation to the press that followed.
The Protocol was signed by Isabel Albás Vives, Councillor for Culture of the City of Córdoba, and Giselle Brodsky, Founder and Artistic Director of the Miami International Piano Festival. Juan Miguel Moreno Calderón, Artistic Director of the Festival Internacional de Piano Rafael Orozco and Commissioner of Córdoba, Mediterranean Capital of Culture and Dialogue 2027, also took part in the ceremony.
Approved by the City of Córdoba on August 25, the Protocol establishes a framework of coordination and collaboration between both institutions to promote their respective activities around the piano. Its scope goes well beyond a one-off exchange: each festival undertakes to include the other city among its venues, to offer mutual institutional support, and to explore new avenues of cooperation in the promotion of established and emerging pianists.
In practice, the partnership means a permanent exchange of pianists between Miami and Córdoba, inaugurated this very season with two concerts:
Córdoba in Miami — tomorrow, Saturday, October 10 at 4:00 PM, at the Newman Recital Hall of the Frost School of Music, University of Miami. Pianists Daniel del Pino and Emin Kiourktchian, representing the Festival Rafael Orozco, perform works by Schubert, Chopin, Falla, Granados, Liszt, Brahms, Albéniz and Balakirev, bringing the musical spirit of Córdoba to South Florida for the first time.
Miami in Córdoba — November 5 at the Gran Teatro de Córdoba, as part of the Festival Rafael Orozco. For the first time, the Miami festival will be presented in Spain with three pianists closely associated with its history — Ilya Itin, Josu De Solaun and Kemal Gekić — performing Rachmaninoff’s Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini, Prokofiev’s Piano Concerto No. 2 and Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto No. 1 with the Orquesta de Córdoba under the direction of Salvador Vázquez.
The November concert also carries a symbolic weight: it coincides with the 80th anniversary of the birth of the Córdoba-born pianist Rafael Orozco (1946–1996) and the 30th anniversary of his passing, paying tribute to a career in which the United States — and Miami in particular — was a major reference.
Founded in 1997 by Giselle Brodsky, the Miami International Piano Festival has distinguished itself by discovering and championing performers of extraordinary individuality through its concerts, its Academy, its educational programs in the United States and Italy, and its recordings. The Festival Internacional de Piano Rafael Orozco, created by the City of Córdoba in 2002 and directed by Juan Miguel Moreno Calderón, takes place every November and has welcomed pianists from more than thirty countries, among them young laureates of the world’s leading competitions.
“The values that inspired Rafael Orozco — poetic expression, technical mastery and profound musical individuality — are the same values that have guided our Festival since its founding,” said Giselle Brodsky. “This is much more than an exchange of concerts. It is the beginning of an enduring cultural dialogue.”
Also present at the ceremony were José Rafael Fernández Linares, who coordinated the signing, the press presentation and the delegation’s agenda with the Consulate; Francisco de Borja Martín Garrido, Ph.D., of Universidad Loyola Andalucía; Dr. Vilma Biaggi, MIPF Board Member; Miguel Ángel Coves Azorín, Honorary Consul of Spain; Néstor Rodríguez, philanthropy expert; and Lisette Silva, of LYS Travel and Services.
Our heartfelt thanks to the Consul General of Spain in Miami for hosting this occasion in her home, and to everyone helping to build this musical bridge between Miami and Córdoba.
Find out more: the Miami–Córdoba partnership · Córdoba in Miami, October 10 · Miami in Córdoba, November 5.
