Past Cliburn Medalists Look Back On Their Experiences And Share Advice For This Year's Competitors

Arlington TX

03 June, 2022

8:02 PM

Description

By Marcheta Fornoff, Fort Worth Report June 2, 2022 In 1958, the same year he shocked the world with his win at the inaugural Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow, Van Cliburn encountered another life-changing surprise. Irl Allison, a fellow Texan and the founder of the National Guild of Piano Teachers, publicly announced his idea to start a piano competition in Cliburn's honor and offered $10,000 for the first-place winner. The Van Cliburn foundation got its start in 1961, and hosted its own inaugural competition in 1962 and another American pianist, Ralph Votapek, was awarded first place. Sixty years later, the event remains a catalyst for many young pianists' careers. The applicant pool reached its apex this year with 388 applicants from 51 countries. For the first time ever, the first-place purse is $100,000. And the event is expected to exceed 10 million views online. 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.