2016 Cliburn International Amateur Piano Competition
Preliminary Round
Van Cliburn Recital Hall

Kevin Grigsby, 41
Marketing executive
Trussville, Alabama
United States

Born in Birmingham, Alabama, in 1975, Kevin Grigsby studied piano from a young age. He received a master’s degree in music from the University of Oklahoma in 1998, and then went on to become a member of the adjunct faculty as a keyboard harmony/theory professor at Birmingham Southern College for four years, as well as serve as an orchestral pianist for the Alabama Symphony Orchestra. A career in marketing followed—Mr. Grigsby is currently a market specialist at Alabama Power Co.—but he still makes plenty of time to practice the piano and to serve as a role model to his musically inclined son (10) and daughter (9). “Ultimately,” he says, “I hope that whatever the outcome for me [in this Competition], my children can appreciate the preparation, the experience, and the fact that one is always, always practicing the piano to improve.”

Program:
RACHMANINOV, Étude-Tableau in E-flat Minor, op. 39, no. 5
GERSHWIN-WILD, I’ve Got Rhythm