A stage for hope and excellence – The 17th Van Cliburn International Piano Competition in Fort Worth, Texas, May 21- June 7, 2025
- Ilona Oltuski
- 26 minutes ago
- 15 min read
The medalists: (1)
Aristo Sham, 29, Hong Kong, China — Gold Medal (photo-middle)
Vitaly Starikov, 30, Israel/Russia — Silver Medal (photo-right)
Evren Ozel, 26, United States — Bronze Medal (photo-left)
Unless otherwise mentioned, all photos are courtesy of the Cliburn press media. A version of his article has been previously published in the German Piano News, in the 2025/5 edition.
This year's Cliburn contest did not immediately qualify an evident frontrunner for the top prize, as did the last competition’s exceptional generational talent, Yunchan Lim – its first-ever 18-year-old gold medallist. However, it was exciting to follow the strong group of 28 pianists, chosen from 340 applicants from 45 different countries, as they offered their best interpretations during the two-and-a-half-week, multi-round elimination process. The international jury of accomplished musicians delivered some expected decisions, as well as some surprising ones–a reminder of the inherent flaws in any adjudication process, where measuring highly individual artistry can at times overlook some of the finest contenders. One of the most well-respected showcases in the industry, the Cliburn has a substantial impact on the American scene while increasingly gaining visibility in Europe and Asia. It helps to widely promote classical music and its exceptional talents with vigor and Texan-style generosity, once again fostering American soft diplomacy in the spirit of its namesake, the great ambassador of the piano world.
Fort Worth, also known as Cowtown, boasts a distinct contrast between its unassuming Western charm and its cosmopolitan cultural institutions, such as the renowned Kimbell Art Museum and the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition at the elegant Bass Performance Hall. Attracting an influx of classical music enthusiasts and professionals from around the world, the organization provides a multimillion-dollar boost to local businesses and the national economy. In addition to the branding sponsors — the Kimball Museum, Steinway Pianos, and the Fort Worth Symphony —collaborations with national and international media outlets are among its many strategic alliances.
Downtown’s Sundance Square features a giant LED screen that projects the final rounds and award ceremonies complete with fireworks, integrating the Cliburn’s mission into the town’s unique blend of styles, while helping to bridge the cultural divide with free concerts in unexpected locations, including the local zoo. New efforts, such as the Cliburn's agency and its junior competition, continue to expand its reach and influence. And the devoted network of volunteers who open their homes to host the young competitors (ages 18 to 30) has contributed to the Cliburn’s reputation for southern hospitality, with many of the artists frequently returning to attend local concerts, long after the competition has ended.
Perhaps no pianist prior to Lang Lang has single-handedly sparked as much popularity for the piano as did Van Cliburn with his historic win. “In a 2012 survey of Listen readers, many respondents said it was Van Cliburn’s recording of Tchaikovsky’s First Piano Concerto (RCA)—the first classical album to sell more than a million copies!—that first sparked their interest in classical music,” writes Ben Finane, in Steinway’s magazine.
(Photo credit: Steinway’s Listen Magazine, Life with Music and Culture)
Steeped in the euphoria following Van Cliburn’s victory in the inaugural Tchaikovsky International Piano Competition in Moscow in 1958, the launch of the competition in 1962— and its subsequent staging every four years— became a testament to America’s renewed artistic pride and belief in cultural diplomacy through the arts.
Unlike some international competitions, such as the Honens, the Cliburn has not in recent years banned Russian competitors in response to the Russian- Ukrainian war, and unlike recent popular music contests falling victim to cancel culture–where pro-Palestinian protesters have harassed Israeli as well as Jewish soloists–Vitaly Starikov, the Israeli-Russian pianist, was given warm and welcoming applause.
“Being Jewish, and having lived in Israel for a few years, I feel strongly connected to Israel, and love the country,” shared the silver medalist. His performance of the Bartók “Piano Concerto No. 2 in G Major” was a bold choice, a first in the competition, and artistically among its most interestingly rendered pieces.
“I did receive some angry comments about Israeli politics online. In contrast, it was a wonderful experience to play in front of such a warm audience. During the performances, it felt very free, no different from giving a regular concert; there was no nerve-wracking waiting around, so typical for competitions, it was just wonderful to be here,” he shared. Among his many mentors was the late Vera Gornostayeva at the Moscow Conservatory, who left her unique imprint of the Russian School pianism on a generation of artists, including previous medalist Vladimir Kholodenko, who was also Gornostayeva’s assistant at the time. Starikov’s rich palette of coloration and nuanced phrasing undoubtedly was inspired by working with them.
Here is an artist whose emotional imagination and technical virtuosity allow him to mold the music between the bar lines, following the composer’s intentions with subtlety, yet great freedom. “It was all about imagination, with Gornostayeva,” recalled Starikov. “Never boring, she went beyond technical details, giving helpful biographical or historical background information about the pieces we studied, and inspired me with stories about my heroes–Richter, Neuhaus, Shostakovich, and Prokofiev–some of them she knew personally. She truly was a life legend,” recalls the silver medalist.
“Always watch out for the second prize winners, often they are the ones with a career ahead,” remarked Jed Distler, composer, pianist, music critic, and radio host in New York City, before we met during the last week of the competition. The exuberant Beatrice Rana comes to mind. Distler, who likes to “call it as he hears it,” kept tabs during the competition on the Gramophone blog.
In that final week of concerto performances, attended by an even larger contingent of the international press, including this reporter, the jury selected the final medalists. The group of six finalists performed two piano concertos with the orchestra.
While the streamed performances reached the highest technical standards, the tone projection of a pianist in the hall offers distinctive and exciting aspects of live performance, as well as a more realistic impression of the artist’s immediate stage presence. The orchestra–the most civilized form of human collaboration–excelled in the sheer number of concertos performed during the competition, three per evening, providing a testament to conductor Marin Alsop’s and the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra’s capability for a quick change of gears and endurance.
“Each soloist gets 50 minutes of rehearsal and 40 minutes during dress rehearsal for each of their chosen concertos. We do not have to agree on an interpretation, but it takes absolute passion and conviction, and one feels right away if they are a good musician and a strong collaborator,” explained Alsop.
“I try to empathize with them and not worry them about perfection,” said Alsop. “They are usually quite hard on themselves, already. I suggest having fun, it will be over soon,” she asserted. “Perhaps the biggest challenge is that we don’t want to overwhelm the soloist, so you are in a constant, intense listening role, keeping down the orchestra to keep the soloist being the star,” Alsop stated.
Indeed, gold medalist Aristo Sham, as well as the always sovereign Evren Ozel, navigated the subtle nuances in partnership with the orchestra, as was evident in their fine delivery of Mozart concertos, whose transparent structure makes it difficult to hide any flaws in performance. In addition to the bronze medal, Ozel was awarded $5000 for the best performance of a Mozart concerto. “We are all in this together,” remarked Sham in a press interview, following the winners’ announcement. “It becomes a lot about supporting each other, having eye contact with members of the orchestra, and also showing the audience this visible camaraderie on stage. ” It was thanks to his all-around remarkable musical intelligence and such collaborative spirit that Sham had the jury convinced.
President and CEO Jacques Marquis, the personable French-Canadian at the helm of the Cliburn since 2013, is known for recognizing the significance of building partnerships. He’s also savvy about the key role the Cliburn plays on the international stage. Marquis–not an easy man to catch up to for an interview–shared his outlook on this year’s competition winners: “In the piano world, the big international competitions like the Cliburn, or for example, the Chopin competition in Europe, open the door for an artist for the first time. Then it’s up to the artist to walk through these doors. We assist with more than just prize money; we offer comprehensive guidance, including legal advice. The moment the medal is won, this is when the work begins,” he stated. Asked about the Cliburn’s influence in Europe, and especially in Germany, Marquis replied, “Even though it's still in its infancy stages, we are building out our agency and plan to slowly further expand our presence in Europe. Through our representatives in London, we strive to act as an overall agency for our artists [offered to 1st Prize winners], which includes recording services, for example, through the Decca label in London and Paris. However, we currently do not offer or provide management for the German sector,” he disclosed.
Based in Frankfurt, Maryam Maleki, who founded the International German Pianist Award in 2011, shared her insights into the competition circle. “The Van Cliburn Competition has always been an important springboard for an international pianistic career–and at the same time places the highest demands on those who take it on,” she remarked. “Some previous prizewinners of the Cliburn, such as Radu Lupu, Olga Kern, or, most recently, Yunchan Lim, have achieved almost iconic status, as they not only played at the highest technical level, but were also deeply moving musically,” she noted.
“For many other previous winners, who have been just as highly regarded but escaped the media spotlight while continuing to shape the international piano scene today, like Jon Nakamatsu or Vadym Kholodenko, for example, the Cliburn has proven to be a sustainable career accelerator.” There are often international overlaps, as the same artists compete in several competitions. “Ahead of becoming the Cliburn’s 2017 gold medalist, Yekwon Sunwoo, who is very close to my heart, won the International German Pianist Prize already in 2015,” reported Maleki.
Sunwoo shared his personal experience in an interview before his Carnegie Hall concert this May in New York City. An artist of great sensibilities, he is the first Korean Cliburn gold medalist and currently resides in Berlin. “While the Cliburn has been around forever and provides an incredible international exposure, it was the German prize that helped me line up concerts here and offered personal support,” he shared.
“The Cliburn’s operation is significantly larger, with a more streamlined, bigger team. They provide extensive media exposure, and within a month after winning, I had a huge lineup of concerts and management, also in Korea.”
Observing different viewpoints in performance that vary between the cultures, he commented: “There is a stronger connection to the tradition and the fundamentals of piano repertoire in Germany than in the US, where it's more about being unique and original in one’s approach and showing personality. In my opinion, you need both ingredients; otherwise, it can be too strict and boring, or too disorganized. There has to be a larger vision that holds it together as a whole,” he remarked over lunch at Bloomingdale's.
Jonas Aumiller, this year’s only German contestant, can speak to the difference in cultural nuance. After five years in the US, where he studied with Sergey Babayan at New York’s Juilliard and Cleveland’s Institute of Music, he is now ready to return to his hometown of Munich. His attention to subtlety in his programs, which include transcriptions of some masterpieces of the repertoire not originally written for the piano, is a testament to his deep connection with the classical tradition. This became clear in the architectural clarity of his Bach–Busoni “Organ Prelude and Fugue in D Major, BWV 532,” which masterfully transcends the sound world of the organ, showcasing the pianist’s vulnerability without ever being sentimental. “The programs are very personal to me,” he explained. His pianistic transcription of Liszt’s Les Préludes (Symphonic Poem No. 3) conveyed the full virtuosic perspective of the piece, maintaining its grand vision while preserving its intricate voices. He believed that his program did not fare as well as expected, but he stood by his choices: “I need to stay true to myself, I have a European soul,” he confessed. At the Cliburn, he did not advance beyond the semifinals, one of the jury’s most strongly debated decisions.
As a performing artist who relishes in the direct relationship with an audience, he shared, “One
cannot help but feel a little bit intimidated by the direct cameras, lights, and all the online content, but being part of it was still a wonderful experience all around,” he said appreciatively, taking home the $4000 prize of the Raymond E. Buck Jury Discretionary Award. “Additionally, I received a lot of valuable feedback,” stated Aumiller, which he plans to bring to the upcoming Chopin competition in Warsaw this October. (2)
Something that both the Cliburn and the German Piano Prize have in common is their scarcity of female winners. “Only two women have ever won first prize in the Cliburn competition's long history,” said Maleki, referring to Russian-born Olga Kern, who won in 2001, and Brazilian pianist Cristina Ortiz in 2009. “Incidentally, it was a similar story at the International German Piano Award: only after eleven years did the prize go to a woman for the first time last year in 2024–Magdalene Ho, who also competed in this year’s Cliburn,” she remarked.
Many critical voices on the Cliburn’s social media sites vehemently disagreed with the early elimination of the 21-year-old LA-based, Malaysian-born Ho, an artist with a unique voice of almost spiritual dimension. Maleki recently told the FAZ that “excellence must not be negotiated in favor of diversity, as this is the only way to secure it in the long term.”
“The enormous amount of repertoire is a test of strength and stamina, but we see quite a few female musicians, among our wonderful young pianists, winning,” said former Cliburn gold medalist Olga Kern in a recent interview. “Growing up, I never thought about being a woman; it was just about being an artist. I had a lot of energy and power in my playing, and perhaps I was just born with a lucky star to make it,” she observed. With an active performance career, and as a faculty member at New York’s Manhattan School of Music, the Cliburn Gold Medalist has leveraged her experiences to establish the Olga Kern International Piano Competition in Albuquerque, New Mexico, which she launched in 2016, to help the young generation with career management in the US and Europe.
“The jury’s choices can be very subjective and unpredictable. And so are the markets in Europe; there are differences in taste between each country. When I won the Cliburn, I had a small management for the European sector, but it wasn't easy. For Cliburn winners, the American market was significantly stronger and more accessible. Now the Cliburn’s visibility has grown tremendously, also in Europe. And through my experiences, I want to assist the new generation in reaching their dreams, in the US and beyond,” she concluded.
The Cliburn always features a new work written for its competition. This was the third instance in which the Cliburn commissioned a new work by one of its jurors, the ravishing pianist/composer Gabriela Montero. The previous ones were pianist/composer Marc-André Hamelin and Stephen Hough. Titled “Rachtime,” the under-five-minute-long work, which all contestants were required to perform in the first round, is a play on “ragtime” and Rachmaninov, connecting the two different worlds of Cliburn. No one saw the piece before the competition, but during the Cliburn’s last week, the score was already available in print.
“I started out spontaneously with an improvisation. I wanted to create a piece that was a musical maze, something to explore, something that had virtuosic passages, but not gymnastics,” shared Montero, whose enormous talent as a classical performer has always gone hand in hand with her ability to improvise at the piano freely. (3) It was only when she was encouraged by the veteran pianist Martha Argerich not to hide this incredible aptitude–so counterintuitive to most classical performers–but rather to promote it, that her career developed full circle. “Rachtime has some elegant passages, with a rhythmical punctuation tying Cliburn to Rachmaninov, who was nine years old when Rachmaninov died,” she stated. “Representing the grand pianism, connecting something old and new, I dedicated it to Martha, since it captures the fluidity of her pianism, and brings something uplifting to our times,” she added. (4)
Like other renowned piano competitions, including the Honens, the Gina Bachauer, the Leeds, and the Cleveland International Piano Competition, the Cliburn relies on the complete discretion of its jury members and discourages any contact with the contestants. Following numerous scandals at competitions in the past, this policy has been implemented to prevent accusations of rigged judgments within the adjudication process and to ensure that each juror's assessment is unbiased and impartial.
“Some of these young pianists already play on a higher level than some professional performers who already have careers. Ideally, the goal during the competition is to find that rare and special kind of talent that will captivate the world for many years to come, not just the few years following the competition,” said jury member London-based pianist Yevgeny Sudbin. “I feel that great talent reveals itself to me only after a short while of listening. I react physically, I get goosebumps when I hear that innate capacity of taking you on a journey with the music, a moment when you are witnessing art being created spontaneously in front of you, rather than hearing something that has been polished to perfection,” he exclaimed.
"There exists a certain tension between the notes, like that between atoms. That tension keeps them connected while creating elasticity and space, allowing them to breathe. Without that tension, the atoms fall away. It’s a fine balance between craftsmanship and individual spontaneity that one has either been blessed with or not, in my opinion,” he stated. Listening to his latest recording, in which he returns to Scriabin—a composer whose works Sudbin completely absorbs with his widely admired fluid expressivity—we know he has described the secret sauce of his artistry, in turn creating goosebumps for his listeners. “I don’t know if it's a good idea or not to discuss among jurors. I would love to be able to talk in a civilized way about our musical preferences, I would be open-minded if someone makes a good argument, and some competitions–mainly in Europe, like the Vendome Prize, for example - the only other competition I have ever judged – are more open to such discourse,” he admitted. Artists like to share, but I can also see potential pitfalls to such an approach if agendas are involved. My main worry during the competition has always been making sure we don’t miss anything because we have to listen to around 50 hours of music, and the jury is also only human!”
A juror’s simple yes or no choice (with three maybes, in case of a tie) decides whether a contestant will advance to the next round or be eliminated. There are no point systems in place at the Cliburn that could confuse jurors, and each juror's votes remain anonymous. (Final results often surprise even seasoned critics, making personal predictions challenging and speculative at best.)
This year, no jury members walked out in protest, as was famously done by Martha Argerich during the 1980 Chopin International Piano Competition in Warsaw. Argerich sided with the brilliant, if eccentric, pianist Ivo Pogorelich, calling him a genius, protesting his elimination before the final round, and highlighting the subjective nature of individual perception when it comes to defining excellence and measuring the elusive qualities of artistry. Yet, while Pogorelich remained a piano saga, few remember the competition’s winner, Dang Thai Son.
While jury members were prohibited from discussing their decisions and opinions during the competition, journalists were all the more eager to express their impressions on Cliburn-designated companion pieces, promoted by outlets such as The Violin Channel. This year’s Cliburn doubled its previous viewership to over 20 million worldwide. Online audiences, who could follow performances with synced music scores, participated eagerly by commenting and sharing their approval or disapproval. Leveraging the competition’s excellent filmed material, Ben Laude provided entertaining and insightful commentary. A pianist and educator, he often delivers a viewpoint that goes right to the core of things, like his eloquent video on pianists that did not make it into the final round. Even if the jury can’t discuss it, we can, this video argues.
It is human to want to share opinions and argue one’s viewpoint, especially when passionate about one’s deliberation. Genuine appreciation leads to the questions of why and how; fostering
critical thinking and well-founded debates can illuminate the process. In a recent Wall Street Journal article (June 13, 2025) pianist Yuja Wang agreed with her mentor, Gary Graffman, who was completely against competitions, saying: “You can’t judge who’s first prize and who’s better than others. That’s not what art is. You can’t put Vermeer next to Van Gogh and say who gets first prize.” In 2007, Wang got her big break, stepping in to replace Martha Argerich in four concerts with the Boston Symphony Orchestra.
Within the international competition circle, the same players will emerge, achieving success in various locations over time. But it still truly depends much on who's fighting for you, or which piano legend you were chosen to replace, which means being ready and connected to take on such an opportunity at any given moment in time.
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Endnotes:
(1) Aristo Sham, 29, Hong Kong —The Nancy Lee and Perry R. Bass Gold Medal, with a $100,000 cash prize in addition to 3 years of international career management, in addition to the Carla and Kelly Thompson Audience Award, reached by more than 9000 votes. ($2,500)
Vitaly Starikov, 30, Israel/Russia (photo: right) —Silver Medal with a $50,000 cash prize, in addition to 3 years individual career management, including international concert tours and a complete promotional package.
Evren Ozel, 26, United States (photo: left) — Bronze Medal with a $25,000 cash prize, in addition to 3 years individual career management, including international concert tours and a complete promotional package. Additionally, the winner of the best Mozart Concerto Performance Award ($5000).
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(2) For the first time, in 2025, three major competitions —the Cliburn (every 4 years), Chopin (every 5 years), and the Queen Elisabeth’s dates (every 3-5 years) —overlap during the same year.
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(3) In addition to the video-screening/screening jury, which sifted through the performances of the initial 340 applicants, the eight- members- strong jury, presided over by its chair, pianist Paul Lewis (Ireland/Great Britain), included pianists: Anne-Marie McDermott (United States), Lise de la Salle (France), Jon Nakamatsu (United States), Yevgeny Sudbin (United Kingdom), Wu Han (Chinese Taipei/United States), Mari Kodama (Japan/United States), Tim Fellner (Austria), and Gabriela Montero (Venezuela/United States).
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(4)The Beverley Taylor Smith Award ($5000) for best performance of a new work, “Rachtime,” went to the Chinese pianist, Yangrui Cai.