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Cliburn in the Classroom—the Cliburn's music education program and recipient of D CEO Magazine's 2024 Innovation in Education Award—presents 1,000 free, in-school, and interactive concert experiences for more than 200,000 area elementary students over a four-year cycle.

2025 Competition Artistic Collaborators

French pianist Philippe Bianconi has been described as an artist whose playing is “always close to the soul of the music, filling the space with poetry and life,” (Washington Post) and who offers “an extraordinary exhibition of musicianship, technical control and good taste” (The London Times). Having appeared as a soloist with the world’s finest orchestras, Mr. Bianconi recently concluded his tenure as director of the American Conservatory at Fontainebleau, a post he held between 2013–2017 that cemented his reputation as one of the most distinguished artists of his generation. He continues to teach at the American Conservatory at Fontainebleau and joined the faculty of École Normale de Musique de Paris in fall 2018.

A multiday event examining different perspectives in music—such as the work of a singular composer, the music of a particular moment in history, or a significant stylistic movement.

In this concert, 4 of 12 competitors will each perform a Mozart concerto with Carlos Miguel Prieto and the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra.

Ten years after they performed in the first-ever concert for Cliburn Sessions—an innovative concert series that has brought a classically alternative music scene to Fort Worth since 2014—Anderson & Roe return, this time to debut at a new venue, Fort Brewery.

When he was 3 years old, Moscow native Ilya Shmukler’s mother found him jumping on the bed and beautifully singing Robertino Loreti’s “Jamaica;” she immediately recognized his musical talent and started him in lessons. It was important to his non-musician parents that he be raised as a well-rounded person, so his early years were also spent with school, table tennis, and ballroom dancing. But at 10, he says his life changed after applying for and winning his first music competition and attending the subsequent international summer academy: “There I discovered a true musical life, and I fell in love with it, inspiring me to commit my life to music.”

In this concert, 2 of 28 competitors will each perform a 40-minute recital, including the worldwide debut of the 2025 Cliburn commissioned work composed by Competition juror Gabriela Montero.

Let your imagination go wild as playful musicians impersonate the animal kingdom—from a stately lion and an energetic kangaroo to crazy donkeys and much more. All of this in the frolicsome setting of the Fort Worth Zoo, whose Animal Ambassadors will make special appearances throughout! Join us this fall as two pianos bring Saint-Saëns’ humorous suite, The Carnival of the Animals, to life like never before.

In this concert, 2 of 12 competitors will each perform a 60-minute recital.