Two favorite initiatives return for the 2025 Cliburn Competition: the student-created painted banners, adorning Houston and Main Streets in downtown Fort Worth; and the Adopt-A-Competitor series, featuring free concerts from 2025 competitors at the Fort Worth, Burleson, and Euless Public Libraries.
The banners and Adopt-A-Competitor concerts celebrate the Seventeenth Van Cliburn International Piano Competition, taking place May 21–June 7, 2025, at Van Cliburn Concert Hall at TCU and Bass Performance Hall in Fort Worth, Texas, USA.
1) Student Banner Program: Now and through the end of the Competition, downtown Fort Worth is filled with original, Cliburn-themed artwork from the students of Fort Worth Independent School District; more than 75 of these banners now hang along Houston and Main Streets. "Walking down the streets of our city and seeing the brilliance of our artists and their creativity brings a sense of pride and beauty that all of the teachers and students deserve," said Ebony Johnson, the Fort Worth ISD visual arts coordinator who led the program. "The unification of the arts is something we all as a community need to embrace, support, and acknowledge."
2) Adopt-A-Competitor: Twelve of this year's Cliburn competitors will visit public libraries May 16–18 in Fort Worth, Burleson, and Euless for free concerts. Hailing from China, Germany, Italy, Israel, Russia, South Korea, Spain, the United Kingdom, and the United States, these pianists are coming to Fort Worth to play for the North Texas community and fans of the upcoming Competition before they head to the Preliminary Round.
THE WINNING BANNERS
GOLD
South Hills High School
SILVER
O. D. Wyatt High School
BRONZE
Manuel Jara Elementary School
Pictured, l–r: Wesley Gentle, Adelaide Leavens, Andy Taft, Michelle Marlow, Jeffrey B. King, Andrew Eschelbacher, Jacques Marquis, and Ebony Johnson at Lone Star Banners and Flags.
THE SELECTION COMMITTEE
Representing the Cliburn and Fort Worth cultural and educational institutions, this 8-member panel selected the three winning banners from more than 75 original artworks.
Jacques Marquis, Cliburn president and CEO
Jeff King, Cliburn Board chairman
Michelle Marlow, Cliburn Board chairman-elect
Ebony Johnson, Fort Worth ISD visual arts coordinator
Wesley Gentle, Arts Fort Worth executive director & president
Andy Taft, Downtown Fort Worth Inc. president
Andrew Eschelbacher, Amon Carter Museum director of collections and exhibitions
Adelaide Leavens, 2025 Cliburn competitor housing chairman
CREATING THE BANNERS
To design the Cliburn banners, the Fort Worth ISD selected Visual Arts programs from 20 schools to participate. Educators were then provided with literature and video footage about Van Cliburn, his contributions to music, and his legacy. As teachers engaged students with this year's Visual Arts theme, "Art through the Lens of Music and Fashion," students were able to discover the similarities between art and music, such as rhythm, mood, tone, and pattern. These fundamentals are just a few building blocks of both disciplines. From there, student artists designed individually and as class groups to develop their concepts. Campus programs voted on their favorite designs, and students produced the final version of each banner.
PARTICIPATING SCHOOLS
Burton Hill Elementary School
Mary Louise Phillips Elementary School
Ridglea Hills Elementary School
Rolling Hills Elementary School
Westpark Elementary School
Natha Howell Elementary School
Carter Park Elementary School
Clifford Davis Elementary School
Manuel Jara Elementary School
Sam Rosen Elementary School
Alice E. Carlson Elementary School
Lily B. Clayton Elementary School
Overton Park Elementary School
Tanglewood Elementary School
Daggett Montessori School
Eastern Hills Elementary School
Morningside Elementary School
Sagamore Hill Elementary School
T. A. Sims Elementary School
Van Zandt-Guinn Elementary School
William Monnig Middle School
W. C. Stripling Middle School
Leonard Middle School
Kirkpatrick Middle School
Riverside Middle School
Young Women's Leadership Academy
W. P. McLean Middle School
J. Martin Jacquet Middle School
Rosemont Middle School
William James Middle School
Arlington Heights High School
Western Hills High School
North Side High School
O. D. Wyatt High School
R. L. Paschal High School
Diamond Hill-Jarvis High School
Young Men's Leadership Academy
Polytechnic High School
South Hills High School
I. M. Terrell Academy for STEM and VPA
ADOPT-A-COMPETITOR
Several 2025 Cliburn competitors will perform free concerts at local libraries in this year's return of Adopt-A-Competitor! The Cliburn returns to the Fort Worth Public Library and launches new partnerships with the Burleson and Euless Public Libraries, providing unique opportunities to experience a preview of the upcoming Cliburn Competition and its artists.
Friday, May 16, 2025
5:00 p.m. – Jonathan Mamora (United States, age 30) and Federico Gad Crema (Italy, 26)
Summerglen Library*
4205 Basswood Blvd
Fort Worth, TX 76137
Saturday, May 17, 2025
11:00 a.m. – Xuanxiang Wu (China, 18) and Jiarui Cheng (China, 26)
Vivian J. Lincoln Library*
8829 McCart Ave
Fort Worth, TX 76123
3:00 p.m. – Jonas Aumiller (Germany, 26) and Philipp Lynov (Russia, 26)
Southwest Regional Library*
4001 Library Ln
Fort Worth, TX 76109
6:00 p.m. – Vitaly Starikov (Israel/Russia, 30) and Sung Ho Yoo (South Korea, 28)
Burleson Public Library
248 SW Johnson Blvd
Burleson, TX 76028
Sunday, May 18, 2025
12:30 p.m. – Pedro López Salas (Spain, 27) and Anastasia Vorotnaya (Russia, 30)
Euless Public Library
201 N Ector Dr
Euless, TX 76039
3:00 p.m. – Callum McLachlan (United Kingdom, 26) and Chaeyoung Park (South Korea, 27)
East Regional Library*
6301 Bridge St
Fort Worth, TX 76112
*Branches of the Fort Worth Public Library.
For Media Inquiries:
Maggie Estes, Director of Communications and Digital Content
[email protected]817.738.6536