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Born in Qinhuangdao, Xiaolu Zang was 4 years old when an electric keyboard caught his attention. He eventually attended the Beijing Central Music Conservatory Middle School for seven years under Professor Ye Lin and won first prizes in several major Chinese competitions. It was during that time, at the age of 15, that he recalls a singular day when he determined himself to become a professional musician. That commitment took him to Germany in 2017, where he studies with Arie Vardi at Hochschule für Musik, Theater und Medien Hannover.

Camille Thomas’ rich, yet elegant, sound and effortless virtuosity make her an audience favorite around the world—and bring her back for her second Cliburn Concerts appearance.

Performing in the Semifinal and Final Rounds, the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra under Music Director Robert Spano is deeply committed to uniting its community through performance, education, and outreach, reaching an audience of more than 200,000 annually.

Equal parts passion, grit, and musical ecstasy, Sybarite5 is an intoxicating cocktail of genre-breaking artistry expressed through virtuosity. See them at Cliburn Sessions at Tannahill's Music Hall.

Pianist Anne-Marie McDermott is a consummate artist who balances a versatile career as a soloist and collaborator. She performs over 100 concerts a year in a combination of solo recitals, concerti and chamber music. Her repertoire choices are eclectic, spanning from Bach and Haydn to Prokofiev and Scriabin to Kernis, Hartke, Tower and Wuorinen.

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.

Yangrui Cai began his piano studies at age 4, though none of his family had any music- or art-related background. When he was 15, a first-place finish in the national auditions earned him a spot in China’s Xinghai Conservatory of Music Middle School. Upon his graduation with distinction in July 2019, the Hunan native was admitted to several prestigious conservatories in the United States with full scholarships. He is currently a third-year undergraduate student at Oberlin Conservatory, under the tutelage of 2001 Cliburn Gold Medalist Stanislav Ioudenitch.

The Cliburn Agency is a full-service boutique firm that 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.

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

The Seventeenth Van Cliburn International Piano Competition will take place May 21–June 7, 2025, at Van Cliburn Concert Hall at TCU and Bass Performance Hall in Fort Worth, Texas, USA.