Van Cliburn Foundation - Broadcasts and Webcasts

Live Webcast

Archives are available for the 2009 Competition, which was streamed live online in its entirety from May 22 to June 7 at www.cliburn.tv.

Pianist and arts advocate Jade Simmons was the webcast host for the duration of the competition. Along with occasional co-host Steve Cumming, radio broadcaster and announcer for the competition, she conducted live interviews and introduced all concerts and special features.

The free webcast was built with the same Silverlight technology used for the recent Olympics, and ran eleven hours daily. Performances were streamed live and are now archived for "on-demand" viewing.

Behind-the-scenes coverage brought audiences closer than ever to competitors. Viewers had the opportunity to access backstage locations, and to experience never-before-seen live coverage of rehearsals with Maestro James Conlon, the Takács Quartet, and the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra. Live coverage of the four symposia presented during the competition finals was also available. During morning and evening session breaks, past competition PBS documentaries from 1981 to 2005 were streamed.

The webcast's new interactive features included an "email the competitor" option, two blogs, video portraits of all pianists, and additional educational materials. An online audience vote, popular in 2005, was featured again this year. Held during each round of the competition, the audience vote allowed viewers to weigh their opinions against the jury's. Online voting did not have an influence on the outcome of each round, but the audience favorites were recognized during the Competition Awards Ceremony.

Another innovative feature was live program commentary, appearing at the bottom of the screen, which offered pointers and alerted viewers what to listen for while each piece was played.

Cliburn 50th Anniversary Documentary
A documentary film combining footage from the 2009 Competition and scenes from earlier Peabody and Emmy Award-winning Cliburn documentaries will be produced for national (PBS) and international distribution in the near future in honor of the Cliburn Competition's 50th anniversary. The 50th anniversary documentary will be available for purchase along with past documentaries following the broadcast.

Radio Broadcasts
One of two concerti by each of the three medalists will be broadcast nationally in full by American Public Media's Performance Today, and worldwide by the European Broadcasting Union.

Cliburn Competition Blog
The Cliburn 2009 posted blogs in English, Chinese, Japanese, and Korean. Contributing writers included Ken Iisaka and Mari Yoshihara, Patricia Tsai, Yanxinjia Chen, Hyo-won Lee, Mike Winter, and Michael Hawley. Mr. Iisaka and Mr. Hawley, former competitors in the Cliburn's International Piano Competition for Outstanding Amateurs, and Mr. Winter, a music journalist and former orchestra manager, blogged in English; Ms. Tsai, who reports for the Dallas Chinese Daily, and Ms. Chen, a music student at the New England Conservatory, blogged in Chinese; Ms. Yoshihara, a professor of American Studies at the University of Hawaii, blogged in Japanese; Ms. Lee, a reporter for the Korea Times, blogged in Korean. The blogs will remain archived on the Foundation's website and available for viewing following the competition.

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