TWELFTH VAN CLIBURN INTERNATIONAL PIANO COMPETITION
MAY 20–JUNE 5, 2005
NANCY LEE AND PERRY R. BASS PERFORMANCE HALL
FORT WORTH, TEXAS, USA
John Giordano, jury chairman
AWARDS AND PRIZES
Beverley Taylor Smith Award for the Best Performance of a New Work: Joyce Yang ($5,000)
Steven De Groote Memorial Award for Best Performances of Chamber Music: Joyce Yang ($6,000)
Raymond E. Buck Jury Discretionary Award: Maria Mazo ($4,000)
Jury Discretionary Awards: Jie Chen, Sodi Braide, Gabriela Martinez ($4,000 each)
Internet Audience Award: Alexander Kobrin (Apple iPod Photo)
WINNERS’ UPDATES
ALEXANDER KOBRIN The Russian gold medalist also won the Cliburn’s first Internet Audience Award. In addition to performing across Asia, Europe, and the United States, he is the L. Rexford Whiddon Distinguished Chair in Piano at Columbus State University, and since 2013 has also been a member of the celebrated Artist Faculty at New York University’s Steinhardt School. In July 2017, Mr. Kobrin will join the faculty of the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, N.Y.
JOYCE YANG The silver medalist was awarded the Avery Fisher Career Grant in 2010, and today enjoys a busy concert schedule. Recent highlights include debuts with the Minnesota Orchestra and San Diego Symphony, and tours with violinist Augustin Hadelich. In 2016, she released her first recording with Hadelich as well as the world-premiere recording of Michael Torke’s concerto Three Manhattan Bridges, a piece created for her.
SA CHEN The Beijing-based Crystal Award winner is a piano star in China. Her recent engagements have included concerto dates with the San Francisco Symphony, recital tours in China and Germany, and a performance in Washington, D.C. as part of the Global Citizen 2015 Earth Day event.
DAVIDE CABASSI Mr. Cabassi has performed widely, especially in Italy, and has been a faculty member of the Monteverdi Conservatory in Bolzano and artist-in-residence at the Col legno Festival in Lucca. Among his many recordings are discs of Mozart (2013) and Beethoven (2014) sonatas on the DECCA label.
CHU-FANG HUANG The Chinese pianist won top prizes at the Cleveland Competition and Young Concert Artist Auditions shortly after being named a Cliburn finalist. She received the 2011 Avery Fisher Career Grant, is a Steinway Artist, and continues an active performing career.
ROBERTO PLANO Since being named a Cliburn finalist, this Italian has maintained an active concert schedule in Europe and the United States. He founded and teaches at the Accademia Musicale Varesina, and created the Music Association “Alfred Cortot” to spread the joy of classical music while emphasizing music education for children. His 2016 debut recording for DECCA Classics featured the Harmonies Poétiques et Religieuses by Liszt, which DECCA had not recorded since the 1960s. In September 2016, he joined the faculty of Boston University.
JURY
John Giordano, chairman (United States)
Marcello Abbado (Italy)
Peter Cossé (Germany)
Richard Dyer (United States)
Claude Frank (United States)
Thomas Frost (United States)
Joseph Kalichstein (Israel/United States)
Jürgen Meyer-Josten (Germany)
Menahem Pressler (United States)
Tadeusz Strugała (Poland)
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
Conductor: James Conlon
Chamber Music: Takács Quartet
Orchestra: Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra
American Composers Invitational Grand Prize: Sebastian Currier ($5,000)
American Composers Invitational New Works: Sebastian Currier, Scarlatti Cadences + Brainstorm; Jennifer Higdon, Secret & Glass Gardens; Daniel Kellogg, scarlet thread; Jan Krzywicki, Nocturnals; Ruth Schonthal, Sonata quasi un’improvvisazione
Master of Ceremonies: Van Cliburn
Official Artwork: Howard Hodgkin, Concert
Documentary: In the Heart of Music, directed by Andy Sommer