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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.”

Praised for her “impeccable technique and facility for crystalline sounds” (American Record Guide), “her natural ease and keen sense for drama” (BBC Music Magazine), “deliciously pearly touch” (Classical-Music) and “crisp, pointed and sensuous playing” (San Francisco Chronicle), Momo Kodama has built up an impressive career with performances with world-renowned orchestras such as the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, Boston Symphony Orchestra, Bayerisches Staatsorchester, NHK Symphony Orchestra, NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra, Orchestre National de France, Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, Orchestre Philharmonique de Monte-Carlo, Orchestre de Chambre de Paris and the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, under the baton of Seiji Ozawa, Eliahu Inbal, Charles Dutoit, Kent Nagano, Roger Norrington, Lawrence Foster and André Previn. She has appeared at the Vienna Musikverein, Berlin Philharmonie, Berlin Konzerthaus, Suntory Hall Tokyo, Philharmonie de Paris, Théâtre des Champs-Elysées in Paris, Muziekgebouw aan ’t IJ in Amsterdam and the Wigmore Hall in London.

The prizes and awards for the 2025 Van Cliburn International Piano Competition

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.

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.

2022 Cliburn Competition

One of the foremost conductors of our time, Marin Alsop represents a powerful and inspiring voice. The first woman to serve as the head of a major orchestra in the United States, South America, Austria, and Britain, she is internationally recognized for her innovative approach to programming and audience development, her deep commitment to education, and her advocacy for music’s importance in the world.

This year’s Competition sees the launch of exclusive live recordings available in Spatial Audio with Dolby Atmos, alongside Cliburn-curated playlists, and a live album release for each 2025 medalist, via record label Platoon.

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.

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.