FORT WORTH, Texas, September 16, 2014—For the first time ever, Performing Arts Fort Worth’s Children’s Education Program and the Cliburn are collaborating to create a brand new arts education program. Utilizing actors, a concert pianist, and video projections, this one-of-a-kind production will teach children about the life, music, and significance of Van Cliburn.
“Van Cliburn: An American Hero,” written and directed by Dallas Theater Center Associate Artistic Director Joel Ferrell, will be presented at Bass Performance Hall to 12,000 Fort Worth Independent School District fourth graders October 7–9, 2014—as well as during the following three school years. Attendance at the programs is coordinated through FWISD and is not open to the general public.
Van Cliburn was hailed as one of the most persuasive ambassadors of American culture, as well as one of the greatest pianists in the history of music. With his historic 1958 victory at the first International Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow, at the height of the Cold War, Van Cliburn tore down cultural barriers, transcending politics by demonstrating the universality of classical music. (For more about Van Cliburn’s career, visit: http://www.cliburn.org/about/van-cliburn/)
Cliburn was also one of Fort Worth’s dearest citizens for most of his adult life. In 1962, a group of Fort Worth volunteers created the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition in his honor. The competition is now considered one of the most prominent classical music contests in the world, and Bass Performance Hall has played host to it since its eleventh iteration in 2001.
“Bass Hall was built as a gift to Fort Worth, to provide a home for its major performing arts groups, and—in no small way—the Cliburn Competition,” said Dione Kennedy, President & CEO of Performing Arts Fort Worth. “It is a fitting collaboration for our two organizations to come together now to share the impactful story and music of Van Cliburn with our school children.”
“What better way for kids to learn about this important time period in world history—and be exposed to classical music in a compelling way—than through such a powerful, real life story?” said Jacques Marquis, Cliburn president and CEO. “The live performance will feature the piano works he loved and played, and serve to ensure that Van’s legacy—his political and musical significance—continues to spread to the next generation.”
Working with Ferrell on the development of the program are: Shields-Collins Bray, second author; Ron Gonzalez, videographer; Keith Buresh, lighting designer; Ric Leal, costume designer; and Debbie Barr, stage manager. For the October 2014 production, Adam Golka will be the featured pianist, and actors Shannon McGrann, Bob Reed, and Tristen Thomas will perform all dramatic roles.
ABOUT PERFORMING ARTS FORT WORTH’S CHILDREN’S EDUCATION PROGRAM AT BASS PERFORMANCE HALL
Performing Arts Fort Worth, which owns and operates Bass Performance Hall, offers children of Fort Worth and surrounding communities, in grades one through twelve, the opportunity to embrace the joy of live performance in the celebrated Nancy Lee and Perry R. Bass Performance Hall—completely free of charge to every student. Performing Arts Fort Worth’s Children’s Education Program was established when the Hall opened in 1998 to promulgate arts education, providing a broad range of classical performing arts experiences and planting the seeds to cultivate audiences and artists of tomorrow. The goal is to reach “every child, every grade, every year.”
Toward this end, it has developed a wide array of outstanding programming to serve students from all economic and social backgrounds. Since its inception, it has presented performing arts student matinees for well over one million students, summer music camps for more than 1,000, master classes to over 8,000, and teachers’ institutes to 3,600.
More information at basshall.com.
ABOUT THE CLIBURN
The Cliburn advances classical piano music throughout the world. Its international competitions, education programs, and concert series embody an enduring commitment to artistic excellence and the discovery of new artists. Established in 1962, the quadrennial Van Cliburn International Piano Competition is widely-recognized as “one of the world’s highest-visibility classical-music contests” and remains committed to its original ideals of supporting and launching the careers of young pianists, age 18 to 30. It shares the transformative powers of music with a wide global audience, through a fully-produced webcast and by providing commission-free, comprehensive career management and concert bookings to its winners. Rounding out its mission, the Cliburn also produces the International Piano Competition for Outstanding Amateurs for non-professional pianists 35 and older, and recently announced that it will hold its inaugural Cliburn International Junior Piano Competition and Festival in June 2015, for exceptional 13 to 17-year-old pianists.
Over a four-year cycle, the Cliburn contributes to North Texas’ cultural landscape with over 170 classical music performances for 150,000 attendees, through competitions, free community concerts, and its signature Cliburn Concerts series at Bass Performance Hall, the Kimbell Art Museum Piano Pavilion, and the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth. It presents 1,000 in-school, interactive music education programs for 200,000 area elementary students. During the same time period, it garners the world’s attention with over one million visits from 155 nations for live concert and competition webcasts; 300 concerts worldwide booked for competition winners; more than 5,000 news articles about the Cliburn and its winners; regular national radio broadcasts to 245 public radio stations; and a PBS documentary airing in a potential 105 million households.
More information at Cliburn.org.
# # #
