The 14th Cliburn International Piano Competition came to an end on Sunday with an awards ceremony announcing all medal winners:

• Gold Medalist awarded:  Vadym Kholodenko, of Ukraine
• Silver Medalist:  Beatrice Rana, of Italy
• Crystal Award:  Sean Chen, of United States

From May 24 through June 9th the City of Fort Worth welcomed The Cliburn, an elite classical music piano competition that comes around once every four years.  In the past only the people who traveled to Fort Worth were treated to the most incredible talent hailed from across the world, this year the internet offered everyone an opportunity to listen to the competition as it was streamed real time.  The Competitors showered the audiences with their technical prowess for mastering the keys and when combined with theatrics, they knew how to bring audiences to the edge of their seat.   These folks knew going in that to win a Cliburn award would mean life-changing opportunities coming their way.

130 applicants were interviewed and auditioned in-person for a chance to be among the 30 applicants formally invited to compete, preliminaries then narrowed the field to 12 semi-finalists, and finally six finalists battled it out over the weekend for the three top spots.

All the competitors should be congratulated.  They’ve spent nearly their entire lives preparing their craft and this competition offered them a unique opportunity to be a part of an exclusive group of musicians – the thoroughbreds of pianists.

In closing the competition this year offered excitement, drama and highlighted to the world a new generation of exceptional musicians!  Bravo everyone!!!

Want more information?  Please visit  http://www.star-telegram.com/cliburn