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In Honggi Kim’s childhood home in Wonju, his sister played an electric keyboard; his parents then encouraged him to start learning the instrument after he played the same pieces she did, on his own, by ear. During his middle school years at art school in Seoul, he also studied composition, which he credits with deepening his understanding of music and its logic, so that he could develop his own interpretations.

Marcel Tadokoro was born in Fukuoka, Japan, into a “literary family:” neither his French mother nor Japanese father are musicians. But he studied piano and had the opportunity to give a small public concert when he was 8; he says that was the moment he “immediately understood this would be my life.”

The medalists of the 2022 Cliburn Competition—Yunchan Lim, Anna Geniushene, and Dmytro Choni—announce new dates for their 2024–2025 performance tours, including recent and upcoming highlights.

A native of Aichi, Japan, Masaya Kamei—at the age of 20—has achieved major piano accolades in his home country. He was the first to be accepted to the Toho Gakuen College Music Department a year early (in 2019). At the same time, he was the first to win both of Japan’s largest national competitions, the Music Competition of Japan Piano Division and the PTNA Piano Competition Special Grade, in a single year. Other awards include the Masuzawa, Nomura, Iguchi, Kawai, Miyake, and Steinway Prizes; the Argerich Arts Promotion Foundation Award; and the Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology Award.

Yutong Sun, a native of Tianjin, China, is currently studying with Alexander Korsantia and Dang Thai Son at the New England Conservatory. He has gained international recognition by winning prizes at prestigious competitions, including placing in three in Spain: Santander (second), Canals (third), and Jaén (first). He returns to Fort Worth this year after competing in the 2017 Cliburn Competition.

Anyang native Changyong Shin has garnered international attention with first-prize wins at the Gina Bachauer, Seoul, and Hilton Head International Piano Competitions. He has studied in the United States since 2016, earning a bachelor’s degree from the Curtis Institute of Music and master’s degree and artist diploma from The Juilliard School under the guidance of Robert McDonald. He is currently studying with Wha Kyung Byun at New England Conservatory as an artist diploma student.

The Ninth Cliburn International Amateur Piano Competition will take place in Fort Worth, Texas in June 2028. Further details regarding application, venues, jury, competition schedule, and festival events will be announced in 2027.

Paul Lewis chairs the 2025 Van Cliburn International Piano Competition jury, featuring Till Fellner, Mari Kodama, Anne-Marie McDermott, Gabriela Montero, Jon Nakamatsu, Lise de la Salle, Yevgeny Sudbin, and Wu Han.

Today, the Cliburn launches a new boutique management firm: the Cliburn Agency. The full-service firm offers comprehensive general management, concert booking, project management, and publicity and branding services to a select group of rising and established instrumentalists—piano and beyond—whose high artistic caliber is matched by a vision for moving the field of classical music forward.

The Screening Auditions determine which pianists will compete in the Seventeenth Van Cliburn International Piano Competition. For one week in March, 77 pianists arrived in Fort Worth to perform 25-minute recitals for a public audience and members of the Screening Jury. The screening jurors—comprised of five internationally recognized artists—will then select 30 to return in May for the 2025 Cliburn Competition.