Armands Ābols is a Latvia

Latvia

Latvia , officially the Republic of Latvia , is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by Estonia , to the south by Lithuania , to the east by the Russian Federation , to the southeast by Belarus and shares maritime borders to the west with Sweden...

n pianist.

In 1992 Abols won at 18 Barcelona's Maria Canals, the dean of Spanish piano competitions. Three years later he took part at the XIII Paloma O'Shea Competition

Paloma O'Shea International Piano Competition

The Paloma O'Shea International Piano Competition is a piano competition taking place in Santander, Spain every three years, organized by the Albéniz Foundation...

; he made it to the finals, ranking along the rest of the finalists second to Enrico Pompili

Enrico Pompili

Enrico Pompili is an Italian pianist.A native of Bolzano, he won several Italian national competitions before being prized at the Dublin International Piano Competition. In 1994 he was second to Viktor Lyadov at the Hamamatsu Competition, and next year he was awarded a 2nd prize at the XIII Paloma...

 - 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

Chile ,officially the Republic of Chile , is a country in South America occupying a long, narrow coastal strip between the Andes mountains to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. It borders Peru to the north, Bolivia to the northeast, Argentina to the east, and the Drake Passage in the far...

. Since 2003 he holds a professorship at the Southern University of Chile's Conservatory.