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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.”

The Cliburn was founded in 1962, and has flourished since on the shoulders of a community of supporters—committed individuals, corporations, foundations, and arts, service, and educational organizations. The dedication of your time and resources fulfills the Cliburn’s mission of providing life-changing opportunities for young pianists, participatory music education for public elementary school children, and access to excellent art for lovers of music. In essence, continuing Van Cliburn’s vision of sharing classical music with the largest possible audience.

2025 Cliburn Competitor Vitaly Starikov

In June 2022, Yunchan Lim 임윤찬 became the youngest person ever to win gold at the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition; his performances throughout showcased a “magical ability” and a “natural, instinctive quality” (La Scena) that astounded listeners around the world. As Jury Chair Marin Alsop expressed: “Yunchan is that rare artist who brings profound musicality and prodigious technique organically together.” The depth of his artistry and connection to listeners also secured him the Audience Award and Best Performance of a New Work.

Pianist Nathan Ryland, a native of Richardson, Texas, has been a winner in competitions across the United States, from the Los Angeles International Liszt Competition to the Brevard Music Center Piano Competition in North Carolina. Most recently, he was selected as the winner of the Texas State International Piano Competition and will be performing with the Central Texas Philharmonic later this season. He has performed with the Mid-Texas Symphony and UNT Symphony Orchestra. He was also chosen as a winner of the Jan and Beattie Wood Concerto Competition, playing with the Brevard Music Center Orchestra in 2014.

Join the Cliburn June 6 & 7 in Sundance Square Plaza to celebrate the finale of the 2025 Cliburn Competition in style.

Born and raised in St. Petersburg, Russia, pianist Anastasia Markina started playing piano when she was 4 years old and, after winning her first competition, gave her debut public performance at the age of 10. Since then, she has received top prizes from many respected competitions in Europe, Russia, and the United States.

Gabriela Montero’s visionary interpretations and unique compositional gifts have garnered her critical acclaim and a devoted following on the world stage. Anthony Tommasini remarked in The New York Times that “Montero’s playing had everything: crackling rhythmic brio, subtle shadings, steely power…soulful lyricism…unsentimental expressivity.”

Christopher Elton was born in Edinburgh and received most of his musical education at the Royal Academy of Music in London, where he achieved the unusual distinction of gaining the Academy’s highest performing award – the Dip. RAM – on both piano and cello.

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