Fort Worth Library Patrons Revel In Cliburn Competitor's Conversation, Concert

Arlington TX

01 June, 2022

6:36 PM

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By Marcheta Fornoff, Fort Worth Report June 1, 2022 Each of the 30 musicians competing at the 16th Van Cliburn International Piano Competition stays with a host family, but a handful of pianists expanded their Fort Worth connections by volunteering for the "Adopt-A-Competitor" program. During Cliburn competition years, some pianists are paired with local schools where they perform and typically talk about their home country and career path. However, when the school and concert schedules didn't line up this year, Cliburn organizers had to get creative. "They reached out four or five months ago and said, 'We typically do this Adopt-A-Competitor thing in the schools, but that's not really going to work this year.' And so they were thinking about what if we did them with the libraries?" Theresa Davis, communications manager for the Fort Worth Public Library, said. "We were like, absolutely. They're a great community partner, and we love being able to bring performances to different parts of the city." The connection seemed like a natural fit for the library system, which champions local music with an independent streaming service and recently launched an instrument lending program. Davis' colleague, music librarian Rita Alfaro concurred, saying part of the library's mission is to inspire learning across platforms." To read the full article, click here. Fort Worth Report is a nonpartisan, nonprofit news organization that produces factual, in-depth journalism about city and county government, schools, healthcare, business, and arts and culture in Tarrant County. Always free to read; subscribe to newsletters, read coverage or support our newsroom at fortworthreport.org.