May 20, 2009
Thirteenth Van Cliburn International Piano
Competition
Holds Gala Opening Dinner and Competitor Draw for
Performance Order
Jury Chairman Discretionary Award named in honor of John
Giordano,
chairman of the jury
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Laura Grant, Grant Communications, 917.359.7319
Sevan Melikyan, Director of Marketing, 682.564.5613
FORT WORTH, TEXAS, MAY 20, 2009--Twenty-nine young pianists from
around the world, ranging in age from nineteen to thirty, were
welcomed to the Thirteenth Van Cliburn International Piano
Competition at tonight's Gala Opening Dinner and Draw Party at the
Renaissance Worthington Hotel in downtown Fort Worth. The pianists
received warm welcomes from Foundation members and patrons, and had
the opportunity to interact with their fellow competitors prior to
the start of the competition on Friday.
Continuing a tradition fifty years in the making, competitors
manually drew for their performance order in the competition, which
takes place Friday, May 22 through Sunday, June 7 at Bass
Performance Hall.
The performance order is as follows:
May 22
Matinee Performance
1:00 p.m. Ms. Natacha Kudritskaya, Ukraine, 25
2:05 p.m. Mr. Stephen Beus, United States, 27
3:10 p.m. Mr. Ran Dank, Israel, 27
Evening Performance
7:30 p.m. Mr. Chetan Tierra, United States, 25
8:35 p.m. Mr. Spencer Myer, United States, 30
9:40 p.m. Mr. Eduard Kunz, Russia, 28
May 23
Matinee Performance
1:00 p.m. Ms. Soyeon Lee, Korea, 29
2:05 p.m. Ms. Di Wu, China, 24
3:10 p.m. Mr. Vassilis Varvaresos, Greece, 26
Evening Performance
7:30 p.m. Mr. Nobuyuki Tsujii, Japan, 20
8:35 p.m. Ms. Naomi Kudo, United States/Japan, 22
9:40 p.m. Ms. Zhang Zuo, China, 20
May 24
Matinee Performance
1:00 p.m. Mr. Ning Zhou, China, 21
2:05 p.m. Mr. Michail Lifits, Germany, 26
3:10 p.m. Mr. Alessandro Deljavan, Italy, 22
Evening Performance
7:30 p.m. Mr. Lukas Vondracek, Czech Republic, 22
8:35 p.m. Mr. Feng Zhang, China, 23
9:40 p.m. Ms. Mariangela Vacatello, Italy, 27
May 25
Matinee Performance
1:00 p.m. Mr. Victor Stanislavsky, Israel, 26
2:05 p.m. Mr. Evgeni Bozhanov, Bulgaria, 25
3:10 p.m. Mr. Ilya Rashkovskiy, Russia, 24
Evening Performance
7:30 p.m. Ms. Ang Li, Canada, 24
8:35 p.m. Ms. Andrea Lam, Australia, 27
9:40 p.m. Mr. Haochen Zhang, China, 19
May 26
Matinee Performance
1:00 p.m. Ms. Amy J. Yang, United States/China,
25
2:05 p.m. Ms. Yoonjung Han, Korea, 24
3:10 p.m. Ms. Kyu Yeon Kim, Korea, 23
Evening Performance
7:30 p.m. Ms. Yeol Eum Son, Korea, 23
8:35 p.m. Ms. Mayumi Sakamoto, Japan, 26
SemiFinalists Announcement
10:00 p.m. From the stage of Bass Performance
Hall
Two sessions of the Preliminary Round will be held daily. The
first begins at 1:00 p.m. and the second at 7:30 p.m.
(CDT).
The Van Cliburn Foundation paid tribute to John Giordano,
chairman of the jury, by naming a new prize in his honor. The John
Giordano Jury Chairman Discretionary Award, to be presented for the
first time in 2009, recognizes Maestro Giordano's dedication and
leadership on the occasion of his tenth anniversary as chairman of
the jury.
Speakers at the event included Van Cliburn; Alann Bedford
Sampson, chairman of the board; Richard Rodzinski, president of the
Van Cliburn Foundation; Dr. William E. Tucker, TCU chancellor
emeritus; and John Giordano, chairman of the jury. A video message
from Alexander Kobrin, the 2005 Nancy Lee and Perry R. Bass Gold
Medalist, was projected on screens as well.
Always on the cutting edge of technology, the competition will
be streamed live throughout the competition. To watch the free
webcast, please visit www.cliburn.tv.
The webcast's new interactive features will include an "email
the competitor" option, two blogs, video portraits of all
competitors, and additional educational materials. An online
audience vote, popular in 2005, will be featured again this year.
Held after each round of the competition, the audience vote allows
viewers to weigh their opinions against the jury's. Online voting
will not have an influence on the outcome of each round, but the
audience favorites will be recognized during the Awards Ceremony on
June 7.
For complete details on the competition, to read more about the
competitors, or to purchase tickets, please visit www.cliburn.org. Tickets
can also be purchased at 1.800.462.7979.
Contact:
Laura Grant, 917.359.7319
Sevan Melikyan 682.564.5613
www.cliburn.org
