The Van Cliburn International Piano Competition (The Cliburn) is an American piano competition by The Cliburn, first held in 1962 in
Fort Worth, Texas
Fort Worth is the List of cities in Texas by population, fifth-largest city in the U.S. state of Texas and the List of United States cities by population, 13th-largest city in the United States. It is the county seat of Tarrant County, Texas, T ...
and hosted by the
Van Cliburn Foundation. Initially held at
Texas Christian University
Texas Christian University (TCU) is a private research university in Fort Worth, Texas. It was established in 1873 by brothers Addison and Randolph Clark as the Add-Ran Male & Female College. It is affiliated with the Christian Church (Discipl ...
, the competition has been held at the
Bass Performance Hall
The Bass Performance Hall (also known as Bass Hall) is a performing arts venue, located in Fort Worth, Texas.
Overview
The hall was first suggested by pianist Van Cliburn to philanthropist Nancy Lee Bass and her husband, Perry Richardson Bass. ...
since 2001. The competition is named in honour of
Van Cliburn
Harvey Lavan "Van" Cliburn Jr. (; July 12, 1934February 27, 2013) was an American pianist who, at the age of 23, achieved worldwide recognition when he won the inaugural International Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow in 1958 during the Cold W ...
, who won the first
International Tchaikovsky Competition, in 1958.
The Van Cliburn Competition is held once every four years, in the year of
United States presidential inauguration
The inauguration of the president of the United States is a ceremony to mark the commencement of a new four-year term of the president of the United States. During this ceremony, between 73 to 79 days after the presidential election, the pres ...
s. The winners and runners-up receive substantial cash prizes, plus concert tours at world-famous venues where they are able to perform pieces of their choice. While Cliburn was alive, he did not serve as a judge in the competition, provide financial support, or work in its operations. However, he attended performances by competitors regularly and greeted them afterwards on occasion.
Contestants draw lots for their performing place in the competition. The competition began on-line audio streaming of the performances in 1997.
In 2009, the competition webcast all of the performances live for the first time in its history.
Medalists
Amateur and Junior competitions
In 1999, the competition added an amateur edition, which allows high-performing pianists aged 35 or above to participate, provided that they do not earn their main source of income through piano pedagogy or performance. Amateur competitions have been held in 2000, 2002, 2004, 2007, 2011, and 2016. Originally, the 2016 Amateur Competition was to be held in 2015, but was canceled, due to the inauguration of a junior version of the Cliburn Competition, which attracts top-performing teenage piano students from around the globe. Like the regular Cliburn Competition, the amateur and junior competitions consist of solo rounds, followed by concerto performances with the
Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra
The Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra (FWSO) is an American symphony orchestra based in Fort Worth, Texas. The orchestra is resident at the Nancy Lee and Perry R. Bass Performance Hall. In addition to its symphonic and pops concert series, the FWSO a ...
in the finals.
See also
*
Van Cliburn Foundation
*
List of classical music competitions
European Classical music has long relied on music competitions to provide a public forum that identifies the strongest players and contributes to the establishment of their professional careers. This is a list of current competitions in classical ...
*
World Federation of International Music Competitions
Notes
References
{{cite book , last=Horowitz , first=Joseph , title=The Ivory Trade: Music and the Business of Music at the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition , url=https://archive.org/details/ivorytrademusicb00horo , url-access=registration , publisher=Summit Books , edition=1 , date=September 1990
External links
The Van Cliburn Foundation– History and information on the competition.
Directory of International Piano CompetitionsPiano Competitions & Music Competitions at Bakitone International
Culture of Fort Worth, Texas
Texas classical music
Economy of Fort Worth, Texas
Piano competitions in the United States
Piano competitions