Santiago Rodriguez, the chairman of this year’s William Kapell International Piano Competition, won first prize in the 1975 piano competition held at the University of Maryland. After the 1986 death in a plane crash of the great American pianist William Kapell, the event was named in his honor. It continues to support young pianists chosen from candidates worldwide every four years. This year’s candidates come from Canada, Chile, China, France, Israel, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Ukraine and the United States.

Currently on the faculty of the University of Miami’s Frost School of Music, Rodriguez performs frequently in the Washington area, most recently with the Alexandria Symphony, and looks forward to returning to the University of Maryland in the fall. The chairman of the competition judges, he opens this year’s festival Saturday with a solo piano recital in Gildenhorn Recital Hall. Other noted artists performing in recital throughout the festival include Leon Fleisher, Gloria Cheng, Vijay Iyer, Jeremy Denk, Richard Egarr and Anton Kuerti.