May 25, 2011
SEMIFINALISTS OF THE SIXTH
INTERNATIONAL PIANO COMPETITION FOR OUTSTANDING AMATEURS™
ANNOUNCED
Watch the Semifinal Round live at
Cliburn.org this Friday and Saturday
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Maggie Estes, Director of Marketing
mestes@cliburn.org, 817.738.6536 (o),
817.739.0459 (c)
Fort Worth, Texas, May 25, 2011-Following three
days of thrilling Preliminary Round performances, 25 pianists have
been selected from a field of 70 competitors to advance to the
Semifinals of the Van Cliburn Foundation's sixth International
Piano Competition for Outstanding Amateurs.
In this next round, each of the talented amateurs will perform a
20-minute program during one of four performance sessions on Friday
and Saturday, May 27-28, 2011 from 2:00-5:00 p.m. and 7:30-10:30
p.m. The semifinalists' programs may not include works played in
the Preliminary Round. All performances are held in Ed Landreth
Auditorium on the campus of TCU. Individual tickets for the
Semifinal concerts are $25, and subscription packages for the
Semifinals, Finals, and Awards Ceremony are $100 at the door or by
calling 817.738.6536.
The Fort Worth Piano Teacher's Forum also awarded their special
prize to Clark Griffith.
Semifinalists
United States:
Arizona
Mark Fuller, Phoenix
California
Ken Iisaka, Mill Valley
Connecticut
Daniel Bertram, Avon
Pablo Eizayaga, Riverside (Argentina)
Florida
Martha Chestnut Hartmant, Celebration
Georgia
Christopher Sarzynsky, Atlanta
Maryland
Thomas A. Maurice, Baltimore
Christopher Shih, Ellicott City
Massachusetts
Angela Lee Tien, Winchester
Minnesota
Joseph Mercuri, Sartell
New York
Mark Cannon, Larchmont
Ohio
Vincent Schmithorst, Batavia
Oregon
Darlene Cuscik, Portland
Pennsylvania
Barry Coutinho, Pittsburgh
Texas
J. Michael Brounoff, Dallas
Clark Griffith, Fort Worth
Utah
Jane Gibson King, Provo
Madalyn Bingham Taylor, Ogden
Washington
Valentina Rodov, Seattle
International:
Australia
Iona Luke, New South Wales
Canada
Jun Fujimoto, Scarborough, Ontario
Germany
Eberhard Zagrosek, Berlin
Mexico
Jorge Zamora, Huixquilucan
United Kingdom
Andrea De Tomas, London (Italy)
Dominic Piers Smith, Middle Barton, Oxforshire
Cliburn Webcast
For the first time ever, all performances and awards
ceremonies for the Van Cliburn Foundation's International Piano
Competition for Outstanding Amateurs™ will be streamed live over
the Internet. Viewers can visit Cliburn.org to witness live events,
as well as to access on-demand videos for past performances and
special behind-the-scenes footage. Viewers can also participate in
a live chat with other fans, share the video with friends on
Facebook or Twitter, and embed the video player on their own Web
site.
The webcast and on-demand videos will also be accessible on mobile
phones by using browsers to visit Cliburn.org or, for enhanced
content, by downloading the Livestream app available for iPhones
and iPads at http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/livestream-viewer/id379623629?mt=8.
Patrons can visit livestream.com/vancliburnfoundation now to sign
up to receive email reminders before the start of each
broadcast.
About the sixth International Piano Competition for
Outstanding Amateurs
Established in 1999, the International Piano Competition
for Outstanding Amateurs was the first of its kind in the United
States and celebrates the importance of music-making as a vital
part of daily life. The competition is open to pianists age 35 and
older who do not derive their principal source of income through
piano performance or instruction. Over the course of the week,
these talented musicians will compete in three elimination rounds,
have opportunities to explore chamber music works with professional
musicians, and participate in symposia and other social
events.
From May 23-29, 2011, the sixth Amateur Competition will bring
together a diverse group of 70 of the world's finest
non-professional pianists, ranging in age from 35 to 79 years old.
They represent 17 nationalities and hail from 10 countries:
Australia, Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Mexico,
the United Kingdom, and the United States. Representing a broad
range of occupations and professions, the competition will feature
performances by attorneys, physicians, business executives, and
architects, as well as by a jeweler, a screenwriter, a retired
dancer, a kindergarten teacher, and a Formula One racecar designer,
among others.
Competitors will be judged by a jury of distinguished performers
and scholars, and by a press jury comprised of some of the nation's
foremost music critics. The jurors will oversee the competition's
three elimination rounds and will announce the winners in a special
awards ceremony on Sunday, May 29 at 6:30 p.m. Three top-prize
winners, each receiving a cash award, will be selected.
Additionally, jury discretionary, press jury, and specific
programming prizes will also be awarded.
About the Van Cliburn Foundation
The Van Cliburn Foundation disseminates classical music
worldwide, and launches and nurtures young artists' careers through
the quadrennial Van Cliburn International Piano Competition, the
ensuing three-year international concert tours of its medalists,
award-winning documentaries, and a syndicated radio series
dedicated to the competition and its most memorable performances.
By making the competition available in its entirety on the
Internet, the Foundation has extended its outreach to listeners in
every corner of the globe.
For audiences in the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex, the Van Cliburn
Foundation promotes great music and world-class artists through the
annual Cliburn Concerts series. It reaches over 30,000 elementary
school students annually with the education programs of Musical
Awakenings®. In 1999, it established the International Piano
Competition for Outstanding Amateurs, which The Boston Globe
proclaimed "a celebration of music, and the people who have to make
music, no matter what."
Visit Cliburn.org to learn more about the Cliburn as it approaches
the 50th anniversary of the First Van Cliburn International Piano
Competition.
ExxonMobil is the Principal Corporate Sponsor of
the Van Cliburn Foundation. American Airlines;
"Crystelle Waggoner Charitable Trust,"
Bank of America, Trustee;
Steinway & Sons; and XTO Energy
Inc. are Official Corporate Sponsors. Official Sponsors
are the Amon G. Carter Foundation, Arts
Council of Fort Worth & Tarrant County,
Beaumont Foundation of America, the
Burnett Foundation, the Sid W. Richardson
Foundation, and the T. Boone Pickens
Foundation. Star-Telegram is the
exclusive print media sponsor, and WRR 101.1 FM is
the official radio station of Cliburn Concerts.
