Thirty pianists ages 19 to 31, from around the world, compete in four rounds for cash prizes and career management.
South Korean pianist Yekwon Sunwoo, gold medalist in the 2017 Van Cliburn International Piano Competition, takes a bow with conductor Nicholas McGegan and the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra during the semifinal round at Bass Performance Hall in Fort Worth.An international piano competition back in 1958 — the Tchaikovsky, in Moscow — made Texas-raised Van Cliburn an overnight international celebrity.
The preliminary round will include a new commissioned work by competition juror Stephen Hough, a composer as well as a concert pianist. “I wanted to write a piece that was fun,” he says, “in the tradition of glittery keyboard pieces from Scarlatti to Prokofiev.” “We talked with past winners of the competition,” says Jacques Marquis, president and CEO of the Cliburn, “and the first year they were playing on tour they had to have seven, eight, nine concertos in their hands. It will be interesting to hear pianists who play Mozart, Ravel and Rachmaninoff, for example. What we’re most interested in is giving the jury as much information as possible for making decisions.
“I’m also interested to have pianists who are still playing a lot. Since we’re launching careers, we have to have people on the jury who have careers and know what it takes to stay there for a long time.”So what are jurors looking and listening for? And how valid is a 2 1/2-week endurance contest as a way to identify great musicians?
“I’m not looking necessarily for what I would do, or how I would play it, but for something that is deeply felt within, not maybe consciously. I want something original, but not thinking, ‘How original I am!’ I don’t want that self-consciousness, but someone who does have a voice.” “I wouldn’t call it coaching,” Alsop says. “I would say it’s trying to help them develop their interpretation and build it out a bit. Some are more equipped than others, or have more experience, or have performed these works many more times and are at different points in their life experience. It’s helping support their vision and helping amplify it, and when necessary stepping in with some suggestions.”Music competitions remain ambiguous in their accomplishments — and controversial.