Ralph Lauer
Daniel Hsu performing at the Cliburn Piano Competition.
One of the most prestigious piano competitions in the world happens in Fort Worth this month. Thirty distinguished pianists, culled from 388 original applications, will vie for gold in the 16th Van Cliburn International Piano Competition through 17 days in June. The quadrennial competition is also celebrating its 60th anniversary.
“Classical music is not entertainment, and I feel viciously strong about that,” said Van Cliburn. “Classical music is forever. Entertainment is something that is here today, and may be gone tomorrow.”
The 30 competitors “were selected solely on their artistry,” says Jacques Marquis, Cliburn president and CEO. “We know that their extraordinary ability to communicate through music will touch the world when they take the Cliburn stage this June.”
To the winner is an enormous platform to jump into their touring career.
When is the Cliburn?
The event will take place over three weeks, June 2-18.
Where is it?
The first two rounds — preliminary and quarterfinals — June 2-6, will be at TCU’s Van Cliburn concert hall. The semifinals and finals, June 8-18, will be at Bass Hall.
How can I watch?
One mission of the Cliburn is to share classical music with as big an audience as possible. To that end, if you can’t attend in person, you can catch it on Cliburn.com, HIFI, and Youtube. The Cliburn has been a leader in webcasting classical music competitions since 2001 and continues to make innovations. The organization is expecting more than 10 million views worldwide this year. This is the first year they will use 4K and surround sound, making them also the first piano competition to do that.
How does it work?
All 30 competitors will compete in the preliminary rounds, which includes a 40-minute recital, to include commissioned work. Eighteen pianists will perform a 40-minute recital in the quarterfinals.
The semifinal round will be conducted in two phases: a 60-minute recital; and Mozart concerto to be selected from a list with the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra and conductor Nicholas McGegan.
In the finals, six competitors perform two concertos to be selected from two separate lists, with the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra and conductor Marin Alsop.
The jury will deliberate, starting at 3 p.m. on June 18. The winner will be announced on that day at 7 p.m. at Bass Hall.
Schedule
Preliminary rounds
Thursday, June 2 — Saturday, June 4
10:00 a.m., 2:30 p.m., 7:30 p.m. daily
Van Cliburn Concert Hall at TCU
Quarterfinals
Sunday, June 5 — Monday, June 6
10:00 a.m., 2:30 p.m., 7:30 p.m. daily
Van Cliburn Concert Hall at TCU
Semifinal rounds
Wednesday, June 8, 2022, 7:30 p.m.
Thursday, June 9 — Sunday, June 12, 2022
2:30 p.m., 7:30 p.m. daily
Bass Performance Hall
Finals
Tuesday, June 14 – Wednesday, June 15, 2022, 7:30 p.m.
Friday, June 17, 7:30 p.m.
Saturday, June 18, 3:00 p.m.
Bass Performance Hall
Order of Competition
Thursday
Preliminary Recital 1
10:00 a.m. Georgijs Osokins, Latvia, age 27
10:45 a.m. Elizaveta Kliuchereva, Russia, 23
20-minute intermission
11:45 a.m. Ziyu Liu, China, 24
Preliminary Recital 2
2:30 p.m. Jonathan Mak, Canada, 25
3:15 p.m. Anna Geniushene, Russia, 31
20-minute intermission
4:15 p.m. Andrew Li, United States, 22
5:00 p.m. Denis Linnik, Belarus, 26
Preliminary Recital 3
7:30 p.m. Tianxu An, China, 23
8:15 p.m. Arseniy Gusev, Russia, 23
20-minute intermission
9:15 p.m. Masaya Kamei, Japan, 20
Friday
Preliminary Recital 4
10:00 a.m. Clayton Stephenson, United States, 23
10:45 a.m. Yangrui Cai, China, 21
20-minute intermission
11:45 a.m. Sergey Tanin, Russia, 26
Preliminary Recital 5
2:30 p.m. Albert Cano Smit, Spain/Netherlands, 25
3:15 p.m. Yuki Yoshimi, Japan, 22
20-minute intermission
4:15 p.m. Vitaly Starikov, Russia, 27
5:00 p.m. Xiaolu Zang, China, 22
Preliminary Recital 6
7:30 p.m. Uladzislau Khandohi, Belarus, 20
8:15 p.m. Francesco Granata, Italy, 23
20-minute intermission
9:15 p.m. Yutong Sun, China, 26
Saturday
Preliminary Recital 7
10:00 a.m. Shuan Hern Lee, Australia, 19
10:45 a.m. Marcel Tadokoro, France/Japan, 28
20-minute intermission
11:45 a.m. Federico Gad Crema, Italy, 23
Preliminary Recital 8
2:30 p.m. Honggi Kim, South Korea, 30
3:15 p.m. Kate Liu, United States, 28
20-minute intermission
4:15 p.m. Jinhyung Park, South Korea, 26
5:00 p.m. Dmytro Choni, Ukraine, 28
Preliminary Recital 9
7:30 p.m. Changyong Shin, South Korea, 28
8:15 p.m. Ilya Shmukler, Russia, 27
20-minute intermission
9:15 p.m. Yunchan Lim, South Korea, 18
What happened last time?
South Korean Yekwon Sunwoo, 28, became the first Korean to win Cliburn gold, in 2017. Shortly after, Decca Gold released Cliburn Gold 2017, which includes his award-winning performances of Ravel’s La Valse and Rachmaninov’s Second Piano Sonata.
Two Americans captured silver and bronze: Kenny Broberg, 23, and Daniel Hsu, 19.
Fort Worth Activities
The city of Fort Worth shares in the competition. On June 17 and June 18, the finals will stream live in Sundance Square. A family-friendly festival will also take place in Sundance Square, 11 a.m.-2 p.m.
There will be a closing ceremony in the evening at Sundance Plaza for the winners, and open to the public.
“We are very active and proud of the Fort Worth cultural community,” says Maggie Estes, Cliburn director of communications. “We do our best to make sure we are reaching the entire city and that we are engaging everyone in this event. It is a Fort Worth event.”
Quotable
“I believe music is an international language. Our world is giving us a lot of opportunities: You might change your religious views, city of living, occupation, gender, passport, but you cannot change your birth country. We all are the victims of the situation and sadly we cannot stop the chaos, however we might speak out and spread the word around. I would really like to share my music, and this remains to be my priority during any kind of activities in the world.” — Anna Geniushene, one of the 15 Russians competing, on the situation of conflict in Ukraine
“Van Cliburn himself brought people together through music. He was never talking about politics, but music; the love of music and how it can bring people all over the world together. Yes, we were born from this inspiration that music can bring people from all boundaries together and we should not ban or discriminate on these premises.” — Jacques Marquis, Cliburn CEO, on reasons the organization did not ban Russians from competing this year
“It's exciting because it really is engaging, and the Fort Worth audience is so warm. When you ask the winners and competitors what it was like coming to the Cliburn, they talk about the warmth of the Fort Worth people from both the audience and the support of the volunteers here.” — Maggie Estes, Cliburn director of communications
