Fort Worth, Texas, October 15, 2010: The sixth International Piano Competition for Outstanding Amateurs will take place May 23-29, 2011 at Ed Landreth Auditorium on the campus of TCU in Fort Worth. The competition, established in 1999 as the first of its kind in the United States, is open to those 35 and older who do not make a living through piano performance or instruction. The competition is judged by a jury of piano scholars and performers, as well as a press jury comprised of professional music critics.
This year, the chairs of each jury will help the Cliburn achieve its goals of maintaining the topmost of artistic standards while also embracing the changing media landscape. John Giordano has agreed to chair the Jury for the sixth International Piano Competition for Outstanding Amateurs, a role he has held for each of the five previous competitions.
Director emeritus for the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra, where he was music director for 28 seasons, Maestro Giordano has served as chairman of the jury for the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition since 1973. He holds the title of Distinguished Fellow in Music at TCU and is currently the music director for the Corpus Christi Symphony Orchestra.
Maestro Giordano founded the Fort Worth Chamber Orchestra, which appeared at Carnegie Hall and toured Mexico, Spain, and the People’s Republic of China. He has appeared as a guest conductor in China, England, Mexico, the Philippines, South America, Taiwan, across Europe, and throughout the United States.
“The wonderful artists in the Amateur Competition dramatically demonstrate that great music can stimulate, heal, and perfect us; serves as a refuge from everday life; and is an inspired expression of humanity,” says Maestro Giordano. “One of the important aspects of the Cliburn’s many goals is to reinforce awareness of music’s value to society. The remarkable and heartwarming performances during this wonderful festival substantiate the critical importance of classical music.”
Maestro Giordano is a versatile musician whose talents encompass composing, arranging, and teaching, as well as conducting. His published compositions include award-winning film scores for the documentaries Milepost 407 and A Great Hall Rises, which celebrates the dedication of the Nancy Lee and Perry R. Bass Performance Hall.
Maestro Giordano is a founder of the Colorado College Summer Music Festival for Young Artists and has served on the faculties of TCU, the University of North Texas, and Tarleton State University. He is director emeritus of the Youth Orchestra of Greater Fort Worth.
Doug McLennan, founder and editor of ArtsJournal.com and director of the National Arts Journalism Program, will chair the Press Jury for the sixth International Piano Competition for Outstanding Amateurs. ArtsJournal.com is the leading aggregator of arts journalism on the Internet and was deemed a “must read” by the Boston Globe. The New York Times noted that “ArtsJournal.com has added something important to the cultural discourse.”
“There are 14,000 new graduates from American music schools every year,” says Mr. McLennan, “and there are hundreds of thousands of pianists who, while they might not make their careers as soloists, have seriously pursued studying the instrument. The Cliburn Amateur Competition is an inspired way to bring attention to some of the best of these musicians. I am thrilled to have an opportunity to be a part of it.” A former concert pianist, Mr. McLennan holds a Master’s degree in music from the Juilliard School, where he was recently named one of 100 Outstanding Graduates. He has performed in Asia, Europe, and North America, and lived and worked in Italy and China, where he spent a year as artist-in-residence at the Central Conservatory in Beijing. He has written on the arts for numerous publications, including as music critic for The Seattle Post-Intelligencer and Salon.com, and for Newsweek, The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, The Wall Street Journal, and The London Evening Standard. He has been a music critic for National Public Radio’s All Things Considered, and is a contributor to the new edition of Baker’s Biographical Dictionary of Popular Musicians. He is in high demand as a lecturer on issues of digital culture, mass media, and journalism, and also runs an annual arts critics institute at the Aspen Music Festival each summer.
Applications will be accepted from qualified amateurs through March 1, 2011. See Cliburn.org for competition rules and entry form. Early-bird ticket packages are available now by calling 817.335.9000 or visiting Cliburn.org. View the trailer for the award-winning documentary of the fifth International Piano Competition for Outstanding Amateurs, They Came to Play (2007), here.
VAN CLIBURN FOUNDATION
Since 1962, the quadrennial Van Cliburn International Piano Competition has been the most visible expression of the Van Cliburn Foundation’s commitment to the highest standards of musical achievement. Through the competition, the Foundation disseminates classical music worldwide and launches and nurtures young artists’ careers through the ensuing national and international concert tours of its finalists. It produces award-winning documentaries, CDs, DVDs, Internet downloads, and an internationally syndicated radio series dedicated to the competition and its most memorable performances. In addition, by making the competition available in its entirety via webcast on the Internet, the Foundation has extended its outreach to more than 200,000 listeners in 157 countries.
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 Van Cliburn International Piano Competition in 2012. ExxonMobil is the Principal Corporate Sponsor of the Van Cliburn Foundation. American Airlines; Crystelle Waggoner Charitable Trust, Bank of America, Trustee; City of Fort Worth; 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.
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