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Kate Liu

Take a musical journey through the solar system! As spectacular images of space wow us on the brand-new Omni Theater screen—the most advanced LED display of its kind—a narrator will lead us on our spectacular voyage. The stars and planets will swirl above as a piano, violin, and cello perform music that explores and celebrates the wonder of space.

Albert Cano Smit has “established himself as an artist to watch” (Montreal Gazette), having won first prizes at the 2019 Young Concert Artists International Auditions and the 2017 Walter W. Naumburg Piano Competition, the latter of which earned him a Carnegie Hall debut at Weill Recital Hall. He was also awarded the prestigious Arthur Rubinstein Piano Prize from The Juilliard School in 2020, and had strong finishes in the 2017 Montreal and 2016 Hilton Head competitions.

Tokyo-born Yuki Yoshimi did not decide to pursue music professionally; he first “met the piano” at a friend’s house when he was 5 years old and has “loved the piano since then.” A graduate of the Toho Gakuen School of Music, where he worked with Hisako Ueno and Kei Itoh, his studies eventually brought him to the United States; he has attended the New England Conservatory of Music under Alexander Korsantia since 2020.

Shields-Collins “Buddy” Bray has been artistic consultant for the Cliburn since 2003. For the last 20 years he has shown his longstanding commitment to new music, hosting concerts spotlighting living American composers such as William Bolcom, John Corigliano, Ricky Ian Gordon, Jennifer Higdon, Jake Heggie, Kevin Puts, Ned Rorem, and Ben Moore. With music educator John Feierabend, Buddy created the Cliburn in the Classroom curriculum for second-, third-, and fourth-graders; now, after almost two decades of serving as writer, narrator, host, and sometimes-pianist at these uniquely interactive programs, he continues to be heavily involved in an advisory role.

Adopt-A-Competitor returns to local libraries this year, inviting you to see two of the 2025 competitors—Vitaly Starikov and Sung Ho Yoo—perform 20 minutes each ahead of the upcoming 2025 Cliburn Competition. Bring your friends and family for this fun culturally inspired program.

Get a taste of the artistry and excitement of the upcoming 2025 Cliburn Competition! Bring your friends and family for a free concert at Burk Burnett Park, featuring 2013 finalist Fei-Fei in this year's Countdown to the Cliburn series.

Born into a family of pianists in Riga, Latvia, Georgijs Osokins began his studies at the age of 5 with his father, Sergejs Osokins. After 12 years at the Emīls Dārziņš Music School, he studied with Sergei Babayan at The Juilliard School in 2015, then moved to Robert Schumann Hochschule in Düsseldorf to study with Georg Friedrich Schenck. He finds “consistent development” to be the hallmark of a great musician: “only when an artist fully embraces his responsibility of being the linking element between the creator and the recipient, can he start to generate art himself.”

SMU Meadows School of the Arts, artistic partner of the 2027 Cliburn International Competition for Young Pianists

Marie-Josèphe Jude, jury member for the 2027 Cliburn International Competition for Young Pianists