FORT WORTH, Texas, November 23, 2015—The Cliburn announces the jury for the Seventh Cliburn International Amateur Piano Competition, which will take place June 19–25, 2016, in Fort Worth, Texas, in Van Cliburn Recital Hall (330 E. 4th Street) and Bass Performance Hall (4th & Commerce Streets). Additionally, Maestro Jacomo Rafael Bairos will conduct the final round performances with the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra. The 72 pianists invited to compete in Fort Worth will be chosen through online applications (online now and due March 1, 2016), including a 15–20 minute video audition. Competitors will be announced April 1, 2016.
2016 AMATEUR COMPETITION JURY
- Olga Kern, jury chairman (Russia)
- Akemi Alink-Yamamoto (Japan)
- Angela Cheng (Canada)
- Catharine Lysinger (United States)
- Fali Pavri (India)
- André-Michel Schub (United States)
- Nelita True (United States)
“I am so happy and excited to be part of such a wonderful project as the Cliburn Amateur Competition,” said Ms. Kern. “It is very inspiring to see incredibly talented people of different professions playing piano so beautifully. And their incredible enthusiasm and love for music—it shows through in their performances! It touches our hearts as listeners and gives all of us so much positive energy—and, for professional musicians, it gives us the desire and inspiration to make music on a different, even higher level. It’s so important for the Cliburn and, of course, for me to support such great individuals, who are such pure and unconditional piano and music lovers, as well as brilliant performers!”
The Amateur Competition will consist of four rounds:
PRELIMINARY ROUND (June 19, 20) –Van Cliburn Recital Hall
72 pianists, each performing a recital program of 8–10 minutes
QUARTERFINAL ROUND (June 21, 22) – Van Cliburn Recital Hall
30 pianists, each performing a recital program of 15–18 minutes
SEMIFINAL ROUND (June 23) – Van Cliburn Recital Hall
12 pianists, each performing a recital program of 25–28 minutes
FINAL ROUND (June 25) – Bass Performance Hall
6 pianists, each performing one movement of a concerto with the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Jacomo Rafael Bairos
Competitors are free to choose their own programs for all recital phases of the Competition, with some guidelines. Full requirements can be found HERE.
Competition Rounds will be open to the public; tickets will go on sale in early 2016.
The winner of the Richard Rodzinski First Prize Award will receive a cash prize of $2,000; second prize is $1,500; and third prize is $1,000. Other special prizes will also be awarded.
Competitors will be responsible for their own travel and housing arrangements. Practice facilities and instruments will be available for all competitors during the week of the Competition. Several social events, as well as opportunities for chamber music collaboration, community performances, and symposia, will be organized during the course of the Competition.
“We are proud to carry on this rich tradition of encouraging outstanding amateur pianists with this top-level contest, which the Cliburn began in 1999,” said Cliburn President and CEO Jacques Marquis. “We are continuously evaluating each of our programs with an eye on keeping them fresh and serving our audiences the best way possible. In that spirit, we have made some adjustments for this seventh edition of the Amateur Competition. We’ll see some shifts in the repertoire requirements, most remarkably in the Final Round, where the finalists will have the chance to perform on the Bass Hall stage with the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra. And we proudly welcome the inimitable Olga Kern as jury chairman. One of today’s leading pianists, Olga is a special part of the Cliburn family who has a passion for amateur artists and has served on this jury in previous competitions.”
BIOGRAPHIES
2016 AMATEUR JURY
OLGA KERN, jury chairman (Russia)
Now recognized as one of her generation’s great pianists, Olga Kern’s career began with her historic gold-medal winning performance at the Eleventh Van Cliburn International Piano Competition. She was born into a family of musicians with direct links to Tchaikovsky and Rachmaninov and began studying piano at the age of 5.
“Call it star quality—music likes Kern the way the camera liked Garbo,” writes Ronald Broun in The Washington Post. “Her electricity at the keyboard is palpable, and though she generates it from the music itself, as it flows through her fingers, it takes on fresh voltage that is unmistakably hers.”
With her vivid stage presence, passionately confident musicianship, and extraordinary technique, the striking Russian pianist continues to captivate fans and critics alike. Ms. Kern’s performance career has brought her to many of the world’s most important venues, including the Great Hall of the Moscow Conservatory, Symphony Hall in Osaka, La Scala in Milan, Tonhalle in Zurich, Avery Fisher Hall and Carnegie Hall in New York, and the Châtelet in Paris. She has appeared as a soloist with the Mariinsky Theatre, London Symphony, St. Petersburg Academic Symphony, Russian National, China National Symphony, Stuttgart State, La Scala Philharmonic, Royal Scottish National, and Cape Town Symphony Orchestras. Ms. Kern has also collaborated with the most prominent conductors in the world today, including Valery Gergiev, Leonard Slatkin, Manfred Honeck, Christoph Eschenbach, Yuri Termirkanov, Antoni Wit, Pinchas Zukerman, Marin Alsop, Giancarlo Guerrero, and James Conlon.
Ms. Kern's discography includes six recordings released by harmonia mundi usa including her Grammy®-nominated disc of Rachmaninov’s Corelli Variations and other transcriptions. Most recently, SONY released its recording of Ms. Kern performing the Rachmaninov Sonata for Cello and Piano with cellist Sol Gabetta. She was also featured in the award-winning documentary about the 2001 Cliburn Competition, Playing on the Edge, as well as Olga’s Journey, Musical Odyssey in St. Petersburg and They Came to Play.
In addition to performing, Ms. Kern devotes her time to the support and education of developing musicians. In 2012, she and her brother, conductor and composer Vladimir Kern, co-founded the “Aspiration” foundation whose objective is to provide financial and artistic assistance to musicians throughout the world.
AKEMI ALINK-YAMAMOTO (Japan)
Japanese pianist Akemi Alink-Yamamoto received her first music lessons at the age of 3. Among her teachers were Junko Otake, Mitsuko Oguchi, Junko Yoshida, Dina Joffe, and Vadim Sakharov. In St. Petersburg, she had lessons with Pavel Egorov and Oleg Malov. She also took master classes with Lazar Berman, Victor Merzhanov, and Natalia Trull, among others. In 2001, she moved to Europe, where she worked with Naum Grubert.
Prizewinner of national and international competitions, she has toured as a chamber musician throughout Europe, and performed in Suntory Hall, Tokyo Opera City recital hall, and Munetsugu Hall in Nagoya. A board member of the Alink-Argerich Foundation, she attended approximately 100 competitions during the past 10 years, and frequently gives advice to young pianists and competition organizers. She has served on the juries of the BNDES, Cincinnati’s World, and Lyon International Piano Competitions, among others. She teaches in the Netherlands and Japan, and has regularly contributed to Chopin Magazine since 2013.
ANGELA CHENG (Canada)
Consistently praised for her brilliant technique, tonal beauty, and superb musicianship, Canadian pianist Angela Cheng is one of her country’s national treasures. In addition to regular guest appearances with virtually every orchestra in Canada, she has also performed with the Alabama Symphony, Buffalo Philharmonic, Colorado Symphony, Houston Symphony, Indianapolis Symphony, Jacksonville Symphony, Louisiana Philharmonic, Saint Louis Symphony, San Diego Symphony, Syracuse Symphony, Utah Symphony, and Israel Philharmonic Orchestras. In the spring of 2012, Ms. Chengmade her highly acclaimed Carnegie Hall debut with the Edmonton Symphony. She also made her debut at the prestigious Salzburg Festival in a recital with Pinchas Zukerman during the summer of 2012.
An avid recitalist, Ms. Cheng appears regularly throughout the United States and Canada and collaborates with such chamber ensembles as the Takács and Vogler Quartets. She has recorded for the Koch, CBC, and Universal Music Canada labels.
Angela Cheng was gold medalist of the Arthur Rubinstein International Piano Masters Competition, as well as the first Canadian to win the prestigious Montreal International Piano Competition. Other awards include the Canada Council’s coveted Career Development Grant and the Medal of Excellence for outstanding interpretations of Mozart from the Mozarteum in Salzburg.
CATHARINE LYSINGER (United States)
Catharine Lysinger is senior lecturer in piano pedagogy and piano at SMU’s Meadows School of the Arts, where she is also the artistic director of the Piano Preparatory Department. Ms. Lysinger is an active soloist, chamber musician, and lecturer. She has performed with orchestras including the Filarmónica de Jalisco (Guadalajara, Mexico), Lubbock Symphony Orchestra, The Houston Civic Symphony, and the Clear Lake Orchestra (Houston). Recent concerts include performances of the Bartók Sonata for Two Pianos and Percussion with pianist Alex McDonald and Dallas Symphony Orchestra percussionists, as well as chamber music performances with the Voices of Change, a Dallas-based professional ensemble dedicated to performance of composers of our time.
Ms. Lysinger is a prizewinner in national and international piano competitions, including first prize in the Music Teachers National Association (MTNA) National Young Artist Competition, first prize in the Wideman International Piano Competition, and second prize in the Vietri-Sul-Mare duo-piano competition with SMU colleague Associate Professor of Piano Carol Leone.
Many of her students have been awarded first prize in competitions. She was on faculty at the Vienna International Piano Academy in June 2013 and was featured presenter at the National Conference on Keyboard Pedagogy in July 2013.
FALI PAVRI (India)
While still a student, Fali Pavri was invited by the great Russian cellist Mstislav Rostropovitch to be his pianist on an extensive concert tour of India. This was followed by his London debut at the Purcell Room and concerts in prestigious venues around the world. He has performed and collaborated with many eminent musicians including violinist Nicola Benedetti; the Vellinger and Vertavo Quartets; the Leopold Trio; Paragon and Scottish Ensembles; clarinetist Andrew Marriner; cellists Franz Helmerson, Wolfgang Schmidt, and Timothy Gill; singers Roderick Williams and Mark Padmore; and composer Mauricio Kagel.
Some concert highlights include concertos at the St. Endellion Festival with Richard Hickox and at the Scottish Proms with the Royal Scottish National Orchestra; Wigmore Hall concerts with cellists Wolfgang Schmidt and Tim Gill; recital tours of India and South Africa with Naomi Boole-Masterson; and performances at international music festivals in India, Denmark, and Norway.
A committed and sought-after teacher with many international prize-winning students, Fali Pavri is professor of keyboard and collaborative piano at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland. He has given masterclasses in many countries around the world including recently in Estonia, Lithuania, Finland, Cyprus, India, and South Africa. He was also a jury member at the Unisa International Piano Competition.
ANDRÉ-MICHEL SCHUB(United States)
Born in France, André-Michel Schub came to the United States with his family when he was 8 months old, and New York City has been home ever since. He began his piano studies with his mother when he was 4 and later continued his work with Jascha Zayde. Mr. Schub first attended Princeton University and then transferred to the Curtis Institute, where he studied with Rudolf Serkin from 1970 to 1973. Mr. Schub’s recordings for Vox Cum Laude, Piano Disc, and CBS Masterworks (now SONY Classical), include works of Beethoven, Brahms, and Liszt, as well as an all-Stravinsky album with violinist Cho-Liang Lin.
Mr. Schub has repeatedly performed with the world’s most prestigious orchestras, among them the Boston Symphony, Philadelphia Orchestra, Chicago Symphony, Cleveland Orchestra, Los Angeles and New York Philharmonics, Detroit Symphony, Royal Concertgebouw, and the Bournemouth Symphony.
Since 1997 he has been music director of the Virginia Arts Festival Chamber Music series, planning its chamber music programming and performing on a number of programs each year. He is currently an artist member of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center. Mr. Schub was the 1981 gold medal winner of the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition, the 1977 recipient of the Avery Fisher Recital Award, and 1974 winner of the Naumberg International Piano Competition.
Mr. Schub has been a Manhattan School of Music College faculty member since 2006.
NELITA TRUE (United States)
Since Nelita True made her debut at age 17 with the Chicago Symphony in Orchestra Hall and her New York debut with the Juilliard Orchestra in Avery Fisher Hall, her career has taken her to the major cities of Western and Eastern Europe, Indonesia, Korea, Japan, Mexico, Iceland, New Zealand, Brazil, Australia, Canada, India, and to Hong Kong and Singapore, as well as to all 50 states in America. She was a visiting professor at the St. Petersburg Conservatory in Russia, performing and conducting master classes, and has been in the People’s Republic of China more than 20 times for recitals and master classes.
Ms. True has been a jury member for the China International Piano Competition (Beijing), Queen Sonja International Piano Competition (Oslo), National Piano Competition in Brazil, Horowitz Competition (Kiev), the Concours de Musique in Canada, PTNA (Tokyo), Lev Vlassenko Competition in Australia, and the Gina Bachauer, New Orleans, Hilton Head, and William Kapell International Piano Competitions in the United States.
Formerly distinguished professor at the University of Maryland, Ms. True is currently professor of music at the Eastman School of Music. Her students have won top prizes in national and international competitions, and many of her former students now serve on the faculties of major schools around the United States and in other countries.
ARTISTIC COLLABORATORS
JACOMO RAFAEL BAIROS, conductor
Described by the Atlanta Constitution Journal as a "genuine talent,” Portuguese-American Jacomo Rafael Bairos enjoys an emerging career as an inclusive and imaginative conductor, dedicated collaborator and educator, and genuine facilitator for young living composers.
In 2013, Bairos was appointed the Amarillo Symphony’s 17th music director and conductor. His fresh and inventive programming, establishment of the first ever composer-in-residence, as well as his community-driven initiatives have helped transform the Amarillo Symphony into a multifaceted vehicle for expression and community partnerships.
2015/16 season debuts include the National (Washington, DC), and San Diego Symphony Orchestras. He has previously appeared with the Atlanta, St. Louis, Alabama, and North Carolina Symphony Orchestras; the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra; and Louisiana Philharmonic. Internationally, he has guest conducted with the Singapore Symphony Orchestra and Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra. Bairos’s 2009 debut recording of Raw Emotions with the Iceland Symphony Orchestra—which featured concertos by North American living composers—was met with critical acclaim.
Along with composer Sam Hyken, Bairos is co-founder and artistic director of Nu Deco Ensemble, a virtuosic and eclectic chamber orchestra designed for the 21st Century. Bairos oversees the mission of executing adventurous and exciting classical based collaborative performances, while presenting various styles of music, art, and media in both traditional and alternative concert venues.
FORT WORTH SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA
Since its beginnings in 1912, the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra (FWSO) has been an essential thread in the city’s cultural fabric and the very foundation of Fort Worth’s performing arts. Today, the FWSO is one of the most successful orchestras in the United States, performing an impressive 200 concerts each year for an audience of 250,000 adults and children from all walks of life. Now in his 16th season, Music Director Miguel Harth-Bedoya has transformed the FWSO into an ensemble that is recognized and admired the world over for its artistic excellence and commitment to community engagement.
As the principal resident company of the acoustically superb Nancy Lee and Perry R. Bass Performance Hall, the orchestra performs a broad range of symphonic and pops concerts and is admired nationally for the strength and uniqueness of its collaborations with other organizations including the Fort Worth Opera, Van Cliburn International Piano Competition, the Children's Education Program of Bass Performance Hall, and various local professional choruses. The orchestra’s annual summer music festival, Concerts in the Garden, has grown to be one of the largest and most successful summer outdoor festivals of its kind in Texas, attracting an annual audience of nearly 45,000.
The Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra is also a national leader in music education. Adventures in Music, the orchestra’s education and outreach program, inspires, educates and entertains more than 65,000 children through more than 100 engaging programs each year in Fort Worth and across the state of Texas.
ABOUT THE CLIBURN INTERNATIONAL AMATEUR PIANO COMPETITION
“A celebration of music, and the people who have to make music, no matter what,” the Cliburn International Amateur Piano Competition (formerly the International Piano Competition for Outstanding Amateurs™) is open to non-professional pianists age 35 and older who do not derive their principal source of income through piano performance or instruction (The Boston Globe). Established in 1999 as the first of its kind in the United States, the quadrennial festival promotes lifelong music-making as a vital part of daily life and draws more than 70 competitors.
Many past Amateur Competition participants have, at one time in their lives, received advanced piano degrees; others have never studied the piano professionally. Amateur Competition prizes have been awarded both to those with extensive public performing experience, as well as to those who have spent many hours playing mostly for their own enjoyment or for the pleasure of friends, family, and their local community. All, however, are united by their love of classical music and of sharing this passion with others of like mind.
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” (Dallas Morning News) 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 Cliburn International Amateur Piano Competition for outstanding non-professional pianists 35 and older, and held 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.
Detailed information about the Cliburn and its programs is available at Cliburn.org.
Cliburn Sponsors are:
Amon G. Carter Foundation
Arts Council of Fort Worth
Crystelle Waggoner Charitable Trust
The Pangburn Foundation, J.P. Morgan, Trustee
ExxonMobil / XTO Energy
Mercedes T. Bass Charitable Corporation
Sid W. Richardson Foundation
Exclusive Print Media Sponsor:
Star-Telegram
Official Piano of the Cliburn:
Steinway & Sons – North Texas / Houston
Official Hotel of the Cliburn:
Worthington Renaissance Fort Worth Hotel
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