Emmy
Award®-winning producer/director Peter Rosen offers
extraordinary documentary film
featuring interviews with Van Cliburn and past Van Cliburn
International Piano Competition gold medalists
Contacts:
Patrick Bibb, The Cliburn, p.bibb@cliburn.org,
817.738.6536
Nikki Scandalios, National/International, nikki@scandaliospr.com,
704.340.4094
Fort Worth, Texas, September 5, 2012-Since
September 24, 1962, the finest young pianists from around the world
have taken the stage every four years at the Van Cliburn
International Piano Competition in Fort Worth, Texas.
Continuing the yearlong celebration of its 50th Anniversary, the
Cliburn proudly presents THE CLIBURN: 50 YEARS OF
GOLD, a 60-minute documentary produced by Peter Rosen
Productions, Inc. and presented by the North Texas PBS affiliate
KERA Channel 13 television. THE CLIBURN: 50 YEARS OF
GOLD airs Friday, September 28, 2012, 9:00 p.m. EDT / 8
p.m. CDT (check local listings) on PBS stations across the country.
Viewers can also watch the film in its entirety online at
Cliburn.org and pbs.org, where it
will be available for free on-demand streaming beginning September
29, 2012.
As described by KERA in their official program announcement,
THE CLIBURN: 50 YEARS OF GOLD reflects memories
asseen through the eyes of the 15 celebrated gold medalistswhile
following the half-century-long history of one of the world's most
prestigious music competitions, set against the backdrop of
beautiful music. "Walking onto the stage at the Van Cliburn
International Piano Competition is a critical moment in the lives
of young pianists. In the midst of the drama, the beauty, the
tension, and the exhilaration, they know one thing is true-what
happens there can change their futures forever. These dedicated,
budding virtuosos strive to achieve their utmost goal: to become a
performer on the world stage. Gut-wrenching excitement, strung-out
nerves, and the joy of victory are elements that comprise this
extraordinary film retrospective."
For this film, Emmy Award-winning producer/director Peter Rosen
sought out down the Cliburn gold medalists wherever they were
performing around the world to interweave their stories with the
legend of Van Cliburn, the competition's eponymous icon, who
recalls his victory in 1958 at the Tchaikovsky Competition in
Moscow during the height of the Cold War: "I had only a few months
to prepare for the Tchaikovsky Competition. But, in a way, my whole
life had been leading up to it."
"Lives since have been changed for the better because of Mr.
Cliburn's inspiration," said Alann Bedford Sampson, interim
president and CEO of the Cliburn. "This documentary encapsulates
that impact."
In addition to the film, a number of special concerts, events,
and projects have been in progress to celebrate the Cliburn's
50-year history of showcasing extraordinary talent and promoting
excellence in classical music worldwide. Earlier this year,
initiatives included a free January 25, 2012, Evening of
Cliburn Competition Commissioned Works with Yeol eum Son,
2009 silver medalist, at the Horchow Auditorium at the Dallas
Museum of Art; a March 3, 2012, Gala Celebration
at the Water Gardens Plaza at the Fort Worth Convention Center; an
April 28, 2012, Cliburn Amateur Competition Winners
Concert featuring Christopher Shih (2011), Drew Mays
(2007), Michael Hawley (2002), and Clark Griffith (2011, 2007) at
the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth; and the July 2012
launch of a new Cliburn Web site.
Upcoming celebratory dates include September 5, 2012, when
American Public Media's Performance Today
will be devoted to the Cliburn and will feature archival broadcasts
of past winners. On September 6, 2012, Cliburn Concerts presents
the 50th Anniversary Gold Medalists Concert and
Celebration that will be held in Fort Worth, Texas, at
Bass Performance Hall at 7:30 p.m. That concert will be rebroadcast
on September 26 by radio station WRR Classical 101.1 FM. Planned
for spring 2013 is the publication of a commemorative book titled,
The Cliburn: The First Fifty Years. On
May 24, 2013, The Fourteenth Van Cliburn International Piano
Competition begins in Fort Worth, Texas.
ABOUT VAN CLIBURN
It was the height of the Cold War in 1958 when a young Texan named
Van Cliburn became the winner of the first International
Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow. The judges for the Moscow
competition were composed of some of the finest musicians ever
gathered, many of whom were from the Soviet Union. Upon his return
to the United States, the 23-year-old Cliburn was given a
ticker-tape parade in New York City, the only classical musician
ever so honored. His album of Tchaikovsky's Piano Concerto
No. 1, one of the pieces he performed in Moscow, became the
first classical recording to sell a million copies.
Mr. Cliburn's mother, Rildia Bee O'Bryan Cliburn, was trained at
The Juilliard School in New York, and began teaching her son when
he was age 3. He spent most of his childhood in Texas; at age 17,
he went to Juilliard. Six years later, Mr. Cliburn was the most
famous pianist in the world. He was inducted into the American
Classical Music Hall of Fame, and has received the Kennedy Center
Honors Medallion, the Presidential Medal of Freedom, a Grammy
Lifetime Achievement Award, and the National Medal of Arts, among
many other awards. The Van Cliburn Foundation was established in
his honor and in 1962 hosted the First Van Cliburn International
Piano Competition, held every four years, to nurture the
development of young artists.
ABOUT PETER ROSEN PRODUCTIONS, INC.
Founded in the 1970s by producer/director Peter Rosen, Peter Rosen
Productions, Inc. has made over 100 full-length documentary films
and television programs on a wide variety of subjects. Five of
these productions have won Emmys and many others have been awarded
the top prizes and honors at film festivals and competitions
throughout the world. Peter Rosen has won the prestigious Directors
Guild of America Award and a Peabody Award. His work has featured
some of the most important figures in the arts, including Leonard
Bernstein, Martha Graham, Yo-Yo Ma, Beverly Sills, I. M. Pei, and
Garrison Keillor.
ABOUT KERA, PUBLIC TELEVISION FOR NORTH
TEXAS
KERA is the presenting station for THE CLIBURN: 50 YEARS OF GOLD.
KERA is a not-for-profit public media organization that serves the
people of North Texas. The station broadcasts to the fourth-largest
population area in the United States. KERA produces original
multimedia content, carries the best in national and international
public television and radio programs, and provides online resources
at www.kera.org. The station's
extensive coverage of the arts can be found at www.artandseek.org. KERA-TV
broadcasts on Channel 13.1. KERA WORLD broadcasts on 13.2. KERA-FM
broadcasts on 90.1 in Dallas/Fort Worth/Denton, 88.3 in Wichita
Falls, 100.1 in Tyler, and 99.3 in Sherman. KXT 91.7 FM, KERA's new
music station, is streamed online at www.kxt.org.
ABOUT THE CLIBURN
The Cliburn disseminates classical music worldwide and nurtures
and launches young artists' careers through the quadrennial Van
Cliburn International Piano Competition and ensuing three-year
international concert tours of its medalists as well as
award-winning documentaries, radio broadcasts, and a live webcast
that extends outreach to listeners across the globe.
The Fourteenth Van Cliburn
International Piano Competition will take place May 24-June 9,
2013, at Fort Worth's Bass Performance Hall and will welcome 30 of
the world's finest young pianists to Texas. Continuing its
longstanding commitment to new music, the Cliburn has selected
composer Christopher Theofanidis to write the commissioned work
that will be performed by all competitors during the Semifinal
Round. Additionally, the Competition has been dedicated to
showcasing both the extraordinary talent of its competitors in
recital performance as well as their ability to collaborate with
other musicians. The world-renowned Brentano String Quartet, who
will appear in November with Cliburn Concerts, will make their
competition debut performing a piano quintet with each of the 12
semifinalists. The Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra, which has
appeared at every Cliburn Competition, will perform two concerti
with each of the six finalists, under the baton of Maestro Leonard
Slatkin for the first time. Maestro John Giordano will serve as
chairman of the jury for his eleventh Competition since assuming
the post in 1973.
For audiences in the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex, the Cliburn
promotes great music and world-class artists through the annual
Cliburn Concerts series. It reaches 33,000 elementary school
students annually with the education programs ofMusical
Awakenings®. In 1999, it established the International Piano
Competition for Outstanding Amateurs™, whichThe Boston
Globeproclaimed "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.
Official Sponsors of the Van Cliburn Foundation
are:
Amon G. Carter Foundation
Ann L. & Carol Green Rhodes Charitable Trust Bank of America,
Trustee
Arts Council of Fort Worth & Tarrant County
BNSF Railway Foundation
Crystelle Waggoner Charitable Trust, Bank of America,
Trustee
ExxonMobil
Sid W. Richardson Foundation
The Burnett Foundation
XTO Energy Inc.
Exclusive Print Media Sponsor:
Star-Telegram
Exclusive Radio Station:
WRR 101.1 FM
Official Airline:
American Airlines
Visit Cliburn.org to learn more about the Cliburn during its
50th Anniversary year in 2012 and beyond.
For a screener of THE CLIBURN: 50 YEARS OF
GOLD, please contact Patrick Bibb at pbibb@cliburn.org or
817.738.6536.
THE CLIBURN: 50 YEARS OF GOLD was produced by
Peter Rosen Productions, Inc. and presented by KERA TV in North
Texas. The project is funded by The Burnett Foundation, BNSF
Railway Foundation, Sid W. Richardson Foundation, and The Ryan
Foundation.
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