August 25, 2011
Foundation will soon launch international search for new
president and CEO.
Contact: Maggie Estes, Director of Marketing
mestes@cliburn.org, 817.738.6536
FORT WORTH, Texas, August 25, 2011-The Van
Cliburn Foundation has appointed Alann Bedford
Sampson as interim president and CEO as it prepares to
conduct an international search to permanently fill the position.
Sampson assumes the role effective September 1, 2011.
Carla Kemp Thompson, chairman of the board, said: "We are
honored that Alann has agreed to step in as we begin the process of
identifying a new president for the Cliburn. The staff and board
have not missed a beat in the current preparation for the
Foundation's 50th Anniversary next year and the
Fourteenth Van Cliburn International Piano Competition in 2013.
Alann's leadership, expertise, and unrivaled base of knowledge will
be an invaluable resource to us in the coming months, as they have
been for the entirety of her great tenure with the Cliburn."
Alann Bedford Sampson served as the Cliburn's chairman of the
board from 1994 through January 2011. Mrs. Sampson began her years
of service to the organization as a volunteer usher at the first
ever Van Cliburn International Piano Competition in 1962. She
hosted Gold Medalist Cristina Ortiz during the 1969 competition and
was continuously involved with the competition committee for many
years following. A member of the board since 1971, she organized
and was president of the Cliburn Council, the predecessor to the
International Association, in 1975. A passionate advocate for music
as an essential element of a vital daily life, Mrs. Sampson
produced the inaugural Cliburn Concerts series in 1976. During her
distinctive 16 years as chairman, she oversaw four Cliburn
Competitions and five Amateur Competitions. From October 2009 to
January 2011, Mrs. Sampson served as both chairman and interim
president. She has recently been serving on the board as chairman
of the Foundation's 50th Anniversary celebration.
Mrs. Sampson said, "The Cliburn represents excellence and
opportunity. Van Cliburn is beloved around the world, and he and
his music empower the mission of the Foundation. These are exciting
times for the Cliburn, full of expectations for marking its first
50 years in 2012 and preparing for the Fourteenth Competition in
2013. To be asked to work with the board and staff to design the
strategies and implement the plans for these events and for the
future is a unique privilege. I stand in admiration for the
Cliburn, its laureates and programs, and hold abiding appreciation
for all who have made it a hallmark. It is a great honor roll
inspiring renewed dedication and energizing momentum to enhance the
Cliburn's efforts throughout the next 50 years."
Pianist Van Cliburn said, "It is a great personal pleasure that
Alann Sampson is accepting the interim president and CEO position
at the Van Cliburn Foundation. She is deeply admired and
appreciated by the many classical music foundations of the
world. Her vast knowledge and wise council over the many years
of experience will benefit the future of the Foundation. We are
grateful that she is willing to undertake this responsibility."
The Van Cliburn Foundation opens the 35th season of
its lauded Cliburn Concerts series-often called the premiere
classical music series in North Texas-on September 13, 2011 with
Louis Lortie's performance of Franz Liszt's Années de
Pèlerinage in honor of the composer's 200th
birthday. This season's line-up also features such superstars as
Yuja Wang, Joyce Yang, Deborah Voigt, and Emanuel Ax. Subscriptions
and single tickets are on sale now at 817.212.4280 or www.cliburn.org.
With students heading back to school, the Cliburn is also eagerly
gearing up for Musical Awakenings®-which
delivers top musical talent and a medium grand Steinway to schools
across Tarrant County for one-of-a-kind, interactive educational
programs.
As plans are being finalized for the 50th Anniversary
festivities next year-including a special gala event on March 3,
2012-preparations for the Fourteenth Van Cliburn International
Piano Competition, to be held May 24 to June 9, 2013, are also well
underway. March 2011 saw the announcement of the key competition
artistic collaborators: Conductor Leonard Slatkin is slated to
conduct the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra during the Final Round,
and the Brentano String Quartet will perform with all
Semifinalists. The Foundation expects to announce the commissioned
artwork for the Fourteenth Competition in fall 2011 and will launch
an entirely revamped Web site, complete with an extensive digital
archive, in January 2012.
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 tours 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 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
was 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.
ExxonMobil is the Principal Corporate Sponsor
of the Van Cliburn Foundation. American Airlines;
Crystelle Waggoner Charitable Trust, Bank of America,
Trustee; The Pangburn Foundation,
JPMorgan Chase, N.A., Trustee; 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, the Burnett
Foundation, JPMorgan Chase 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.
