Update June 10, 2013: The winners have been announced for the Van Cliburn Piano Competition 2013: Sean Chen (Crystal), Beatrice Rana (Silver), and Vadym Kholodenko (Gold). Congratulations to all the marvelous pianists who competed this year. You are all winners in the eyes of classical music lovers everywhere.

Van Cliburn Piano Competition Finals

Watch the Van Cliburn finals going on now! Check it out right here via live stream:

You can also view it at Cliburn.org.

The Sunday, June 9, schedule is as follows,

Concerto #1
3:00 p.m. 
Vadym Kholodenko


MOZART Piano Concerto No. 21 in C Major, K. 467

Concerto #2
Tomoki Sakata
TCHAIKOVSKY Piano Concerto No. 1 in B-flat Minor, op. 23

Concerto #3      

Sean Chen
RACHMANINOV Piano Concerto No. 3 in D Minor, op. 30

Awards ceremony will be 7:00 PM Central time.

My heart is about to burst with hometown pride: the Van Cliburn Piano Competition draws to a close tomorrow, and for two weeks, Ft. Worth, TX, has been on the international map in the world of classical music. Once every four years the best and brightest pianists from around the world compete in Fort Worth for the prestigious honor of the Cliburn medals.

Van Cliburn classical pianist

Van Cliburn classical pianist died February 27, 2013

Van Cliburn himself was a hometown hero, and a household name in North Texas.

Growing up in Ft. Worth, I recall attending the Van Cliburn rehearsals on the campus of Texas Christian University, with the freedom to come and go at will. The experience made a deep impression on me and engendered my love of classical musical.

Van Cliburn established the piano competition after winning the Tchaikovsky International Competition in Moscow in 1958. The win helped bridge a cultural divide in the Cold War Era, and worldwide respect for classical American musicians had been slow in coming. Van Cliburn changed that forever. He unfortunately passed away on Februrary 27, 2013, but his legacy will live forever.

Van Cliburn Piano Competition Finalists 2013

Now the fourteenth Cliburn competition is down to six finalists. You won’t want to miss these musical geniuses tickling the ivories. Their performances are available on demand on the Cliburn.org website, where they will be streaming live on Sunday.

You can check out Saturday’s final Van Cliburn Piano Competition with Beatrice Rana (BEETHOVEN Piano Concerto No. 3 in C Minor, op. 37), Nikita Mndoyants (PROKOFIEV Piano Concerto No. 2 in G Minor, op. 16) and Fei-Fei Dong with RACHMANINOV Piano Concerto No. 3 in D Minor, op. 30). All can be found here.

Check out this fantastic PBS documentary about Van Cliburn called Russians Conquered My Heart: Pianist Van Cliburn Reflects on 50 Years of Music Making

And here is the piece that started it all: Van CLIBURN plays RACHMANINOV Third Concerto in Moscow 1958