December 15, 2010
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Maggie Estes, Director of Marketing
mestes@cliburn.org
817.738.6536
Fort Worth, Texas, December 15, 2010:
The Van Cliburn Foundation proudly announces
that it will hold its annual gala on Saturday, March 5,
2011 at the Botanical Research Institute of
Texas' brand new, state-of-the-art facility.
Gala attendees will have the luxury of being the first to
experience BRIT's spectacular, sustainable home--a
69,000-square-foot space located at 1700 North University Drive
adjacent to the Fort Worth Botanical Garden in Fort Worth's
Cultural District. The lush venue, complete with a "living roof",
will provide the perfect atmosphere for this celebration of music,
a truly enchanting evening with fine dining, dancing, and fun.
Sponsor table information is available now at Cliburn.org or by calling Lindy Eubank at
817.738.6536.
The design of BRIT's Fort Worth headquarters reflects its
conservation mission. BRIT is seeking The US Green Building
Council's LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design)
platinum certification, which would be the first at this level in
Fort Worth and Tarrant County, the second in the North Texas area,
and the fifth in Texas. Sustainable elements include a Living
Roof, a solar photovoltaic system, energy conservation, stormwater
management, reduced site disturbance, use of bio-based building
materials, recycling of original building materials (97.1%), and
use of regional and recycled materials for building construction.
In addition, BRIT's landscape was selected by Sustainable Sites
Initiative™ (SITES™) as one of the first landscapes to participate
in a new program testing the nation's first rating system for green
landscape design, construction, and maintenance.
About the Van Cliburn Foundation
The Van Cliburn Foundation disseminates classical music worldwide,
and launches and nurtures young artists' careers through the
quadrennial Van Cliburn International Piano Competition, the
ensuing three-year international concert tour of its medalists,
award-winning documentaries, and a syndicated radio series
dedicated to the competition and its most memorable performances.
By making the competition available in its entirety on the
Internet, the Foundation has extended its outreach to listeners in
every corner of the globe.
For audiences in the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex, the Van Cliburn
Foundation promotes great music and world-class artists through the
annual Cliburn Concerts series. It reaches over 30,000 elementary
school students annually with the education programs of Musical
Awakenings®. In 1999, it established the quadrennial
International Piano Competition for Outstanding Amateurs™, which
The Boston Globe proclaimed "a celebration of music, and
the people who have to make music, no matter what." The sixth
Amateur Competition will be held May 23-29, 2011 at Ed Landreth
Auditorium on the campus of TCU.
Visit Cliburn.org to learn more about the Cliburn as
it approaches the 50th anniversary of the first Van Cliburn
International Piano Competition in 1962.
About the Botanical Research Institute of
Texas
Founded in 1987, the Botanical Research Institute of Texas is an
international, scientific research and learning center focused on
conservation and knowledge sharing. Based in Fort Worth, BRIT
catalogs plant life on Earth and conducts extensive research around
the world. Current major research projects are in Texas, Peru, and
Papua New Guinea. In the last ten years BRIT is credited with more
than 80 new plant species discoveries.
BRIT's herbarium, a collection of more than one million dried
plant specimens representing much of Earth's plant diversity, is
among the largest in the United States and is the largest U.S.
herbarium not part of a university, botanical garden, or broader
natural history museum. Some specimens date back to the late 1700s.
BRIT's library houses more than 125,000 volumes of books,
periodicals, and journals from more than 100 countries.
Its plant collections and educational programs are open to the
public, to help everyone understand the value that plants
bring to life. BRIT is a resource for research scientists,
students, teachers, plant enthusiasts, gardeners, hospitals, and
many others.
In spring 2011, BRIT will move into its new sustainable and
energy efficient headquarters located in the Fort Worth Cultural
District. Open to the public, BRIT will provide education programs
featuring indoor and outdoor classes for all ages.
ExxonMobil is the Principal Corporate Sponsor
of the Van Cliburn Foundation. American Airlines;
Crystelle Waggoner Charitable Trust, Bank of America,
Trustee; City of Fort Worth;
Steinway & Sons; and XTO Energy
Inc. are Official Corporate Sponsors. Official Sponsors
are the Amon G. Carter Foundation, Arts
Council of Fort Worth & Tarrant County,
Beaumont Foundation of America, the
Burnett Foundation, the Sid W. Richardson
Foundation, and the T. Boone Pickens
Foundation. Star-Telegram is the
Exclusive Print Media Sponsor, and WRR 101.1 FM is
the Official Radio Station of Cliburn Concerts.
