Composers: Igor Stravinsky

Anna Boonyanit – Cliburn Junior 2015 Preliminary Round Recital

ANNA BOONYANIT
United States |  Age 16

2015 Cliburn International Junior Piano Competition and Festival
June 21–28, 2015  I  TCU
Fort Worth, TX, USA

Program:
BACH Prelude and Fugue in E Minor, Book I, BWV 855
BEETHOVEN Sonata No. 3 in C Major, op. 2, no. 3: I. Allegro con brio
CHOPIN Etude in G-sharp Minor, op. 25, no. 6
STRAVINSKY “Chez Petrouchka” from Trois mouvements de Petrouchka

Anna Boonyanit made her Carnegie Hall debut in June 2014, as prizewinner of the International Russian Music Piano Competition in 2013. She has also won first prizes and numerous special awards at the Los Angeles International Liszt, Seattle International Piano, and Music Teacher’s Association of California State Concerto Competitions. Anna has performed with Nova Vista Symphony, El Camino Youth Senior, Diablo Symphony, and Palo Alto Philharmonic Orchestras. She has appeared on NPR’s From the Top and is a National YoungArts Foundation winner. A participant in the John Perry Academy of Music, and the Music@Menlo Chamber Music, California Summer Music, and Seattle International Piano Festivals, she has taken lessons with John Perry, Wu Han, Alessio Bax, Bruce Adolphe, and Peter Mack. She is currently studying with Hans Boepple. A fan of the San Francisco Giants, Anna also writes for an arts and lifestyle magazine published by her school.

Gorden Cheng– Cliburn Amateur 2016 Semifinal Round Recital

GORDEN CHENG, 35
Systems engineer
San Diego, California
United States

2016 Cliburn International Amateur Piano Competition
Semifinal Round – Thursday, June 23, 2016
Van Cliburn Recital Hall
Fort Worth, Texas, USA

An information technology and network security executive, Gorden Cheng received a bachelor’s degree in computer science in 2003 from the University of Texas at Dallas, and worked at two Dallas-area computer companies until 2004 before relocating to Southern California. He has taken private piano lessons for years, and the practice has netted results: From 2011–2015, he placed in amateur competitions in Paris (2011), Chicago (2012), Colorado Springs (2012), Warsaw (2012), Washington, D.C. (2012), and Boston (2015). Currently head of technology operations for eMolecules, Inc., Mr. Cheng calls himself a computer nerd and Internet plumber. He enjoys spending time with his wife and children and is a huge fan of FC Barcelona and the UFC.

Program:
PROKOFIEV, “Young Juliet;” “Mercutio;” and “Montagues and Capulets” from Romeo and Juliet, op. 75
STRAVINSKY, Trois Mouvements de Petrouchka

Benjamin T. Rossen – Cliburn Junior 2019 Preliminary Round Recital

Benjamin T. Rossen
United States | Age 16

Preliminary Round Recital – Friday, May 31, 2019 – 9:16 p.m.
Caruth Auditorium, SMU I Dallas, Texas, USA

Program:
STRAVINSKY Serenade in A
BACH Prelude and Fugue in E Major, BWV 878
LISZT Eroica from Transcendental Etudes

New Yorker Benjamin T. Rossen has won prizes in a number of U.S. competitions, including first-place finishes in contests held by Steinway & Sons, the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, the Music Teachers National Association, and the National YoungArts Foundation. A student of Jeffrey Cohen at the Manhattan School of Music Precollege Division for five years, he made his recital debut at the school at age 9, and his concerto debut the following year with the New York Concerti Sinfonietta at Carnegie Hall. A junior at William A. Shine Great Neck South High School, Benjamin is founder and president of the Music Creators Society, which connects composers with artists to produce interdisciplinary works; plays piano in the school jazz band and French horn in operas and musicals; and is music editor for the school’s literary magazine.

“In society, music can bring awareness to many different facets of culture, from literature and art to political ideas and mathematical concepts. This medium allows for different communities to discover and acknowledge society’s achievements and challenges.”

Alex McDonald- Cliburn 2013 Preliminary Round Recital II

ALEX MCDONALD
United States | Age 30

Fourteenth Van Cliburn International Piano Competition
Preliminary Round Recital II
Bass Performance Hall

Program:
RAVEL From Miroirs, Osieaux tristes, Alborada del gracioso
LISZT Les jeux d’eaux a la Villa d’Este
CHOPIN Nocturne in C Minor, op. 48, no. 1
STRAVINSKY Trois Mouvements de Petrouchka

Alex McDonald gave his orchestral debut at the age of eleven, and has since taken the stage as soloist with the Louisiana Philharmonic, Orquesta Sinfónica del Estado de México in Toluca, the Utah Symphony, and Fort Worth Symphony Orchestras, among others. He has performed across the United States, as well as in Canada, Israel, South Korea, and in Japan, where he also organized relief concerts for displaced survivors of the Tohoku earthquake and tsunami. Additionally, he has been featured on NPR, PBS, WQXR, and WRR. He received his doctoral and master’s degrees from The Juilliard School and earned his bachelor’s degree from the New England Conservatory of Music. His doctoral document, a source study on manuscripts and editions for Liszt’s Sonata in B Minor, has been cited in the most recent edition of the sonata by Alfred Publishers, edited by Nancy Bricard. Dr. McDonald currently resides in Dallas, Texas.

Jie Yuan- Cliburn 2013 Preliminary Round Recital I

JIE YUAN
China| Age 27

Fourteenth Van Cliburn International Piano Competition
Preliminary Recital I
Bass Performance Hall

Program:
SCHUMANN    Variations on the Name “Abegg,” op. 1
HAYDN           Sonata in C Major, Hob. XVI: 50
STRAVINSKY    Trois mouvenments de Petrouchka

Born in Changchun, Jie Yuan received major prizes at both the 2009 Ferruccio Busoni International Piano Competition and the 2007 Shanghai International Piano Competition. He maintains an active performance schedule and has appeared with the China Philharmonic, Haydn Festival, Morocco Royal Philharmonic, Shenzhen Symphony, and Tulsa Symphony Orchestras. Mr. Yuan earned his Bachelor of Music degree from Texas Christian University. He currently resides in New York City, where he studies at The Juilliard School.

Nikita Abrosimov- Cliburn 2013 Semifinal Recital

NIKITA ABROSIMOV
Russia | Age 24

Fourteenth Van Cliburn International Piano Competition
Semifinal Round  Recital
Bass Performance Hall

Program:
RACHMANINOV Variations on a Theme of Corelli, op. 42
THEOFANIDIS Birichino
SCRIABIN Vers la flamme, op. 72
STRAVINSKY Trois mouvements de Petrouchka

Nikita Abrosimov began studying piano at the age of six and made his recital debut when he was fourteen. He has since made appearances at La Scala in Milan, Alice Tully Hall in New York, Mariinsky Concert Hall in St. Petersburg, and in venues throughout France, Italy, Portugal, Russia, Switzerland, South Korea, Ukraine, the United Kingdom, and the United States. He has recently performed with the Nizhny Novgorod Symphony, Kostroma Symphony, and Stanford Symphony Orchestras, as well as with the Mariinsky Theatre Orchestra under the baton of Valery Gergiev in St. Petersburg’s Stars of the White Nights Festival. Mr. Abrosimov earned degrees at the Balakirev Music College and at Indiana University South Bend. He currently lives in London, where he studies at the Royal College of Music.

Vadym Kholodenko- Cliburn 2013 Preliminary Recital II

VADYM KHOLODENKO
2013 Gold Medalist
Ukraine | Age 26

Fourteenth Van Cliburn International Piano Competition
Preliminary Round Recital II
Bass Performance Hall

Program:
BACH-SILOTI Prelude in B Minor, BWV 855a
BEETHOVEN Sonata No. 30 in E Major, op. 109
STRAVINSKY Trois mouvements de Pétrouchka

 Born in Kiev, Vadym Kholodenko won first prize at both the International Schubert Competition in Dortmund in 2012, and the Sendai International Music Competition in 2010. He has worked with Yuri Bashmet, Vladimir Spivakov, and other distinguished conductors, and has performed across the globe in Austria, China, the Czech Republic, Finland, France, Germany, Israel, Italy, Japan, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Russia, Switzerland, and the United States. He released recordings of Liszt, Rachmaninov, and Medtner on Russia’s TV Culture label in 2009. An avid chamber musician as well, he performed and recorded a CD with violinist Alena Baeva, and formed a piano duo with Andrey Gugnin, which they dubbed “iDuo.” Mr. Kholodenko currently resides in Moscow, where he attends the Moscow P.I. Tchaikovsky Conservatory.

Kuan-Ting Lin- Cliburn 2013 Preliminary Recital II

KUAN-TING LIN
Taiwan | Age: 21

Fourteenth Van Cliburn International Piano Competition
Preliminary Round Recital II
Bass Performance Hall

Program:
SCHUMANN Humoresque in B-flat Major, op. 20
STRAVINSKY Trois mouvements de Petrouchka

Born in Taipei, Kuan-Ting Lin began piano studies at the age of four. Ten years later, he moved to Russia, first studying at Moscow’s Gnessin State Musical College, and then enrolling at the Moscow P.I. Tchaikovsky Conservatory. He was awarded several prizes in Taiwan as a teenager, and recently received top prize at the International Competition ofYoung Artists “A Step Towards Mastery”and second prize at the International Vladimir Viardo Competition in Ukraine.Mr. Lin has performed with the Gnessin State Musical College Orchestra, the Parlarte Symphony Orchestra in Italy, the St. Petersburg Academic Symphony Orchestra, the Taipei SymphonyOrchestra, and in recital throughout Asia and Europe.

Ilya Shmukler – Cliburn 2017 Quarterfinal Recital

ILYA SHMUKLER
Russia | Age 22

Fifteenth Van Cliburn International Piano Competition
Quarterfinal Round Recital – Monday, May 29, 2017 – 11:55 a.m.
Bass Performance Hall

Program:

BACH-BUSONI Chaconne in D Minor, BWV 1004
RAVEL Pavane pour une infante défunte
STRAVINSKY Trois mouvements de Petrouchka

Moscow native Ilya Shmukler studies piano with Elena Kuznetsova at the Moscow Conservatory. He has frequently performed in the leading concert halls of Russia, including in Moscow, St. Petersburg, Ekaterinburg, and Kazan, as well as in Austria, the Netherlands, Italy, Spain, Bulgaria, Germany, Lithuania, Moldova, and Kazakhstan. Mr. Shmukler has won awards at a number of piano competitions, including grand prizes of the 2009 Musica Classica and the 2012 Scriabin-Rachmaninoff competitions in Russia, and second prize in the 2012 International Rachmaninov Music Competition. He has played with several orchestras, most notably the Mariinsky Theatre Symphony Orchestra. When not playing piano, he enjoys cinema, literature, art, swimming, and table tennis.

Nikita Abrosimov- Cliburn 2017 Preliminary Recital

NIKITA ABROSIMOV
Russia | Age 28

Fifteenth Van Cliburn International Piano Competition
Preliminary Round Recital – Saturday, May 27, 2017 – 11:55 a.m.
Bass Performance Hall

Program:

RACHMANINOFF Variations on a Theme by Corelli, op. 42
HAMELIN Toccata on “L`homme armé”
STRAVINSKY Trois mouvements de Petrouchka

Nikita Abrosimov was born in the Urals in Russia and began studying piano at age 6. After earning his undergraduate degree at the M.A. Balakirev Music College in Nizhny Novgorod, Russia, he studied at Indiana University and the Royal College of Music. In 2011, he won the World Piano Competition in Cincinnati, and the next year he was awarded the prestigious Gawon International Music Society Award in Seoul, South Korea. Mr. Abrosimov has performed at piano festivals in Russia, Europe, and the United States, and his notable concerto appearances include the Stars of the White Nights festival in St. Petersburg, where he performed with the Mariinsky Theatre Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Valery Gergiev. He also has played recitals in New York (Weill Recital Hall, Alice Tully Hall), Seoul (Yongsan Art Hall), and St. Petersburg (Mariinsky Concert Hall), among others. Mr. Abrosimov lives in Nizhny Novgorod with his wife and young son..