Six pianists, ranging from 38 years old to 71 years old, have made it through to the finals of the Eighth Cliburn International Amateur Piano Competition
Main image, left to right: Dmytro Vynogradov, Dominique Salloum, Xavier Aymonod, Masanori Murakami, Michael Slavin, Jon Lee
The finalists have been announced for this year's Cliburn International Amateur Piano Competition.
The competition searches for the most outstanding, non-professional pianists age 35 and older. This year's finalists are:
✔ Xavier Aymonod, Marketing Director – Public Transportation, 46, France
✔ Jon Lee, Software Engineer, 41, United States
✔ Masanori Murakami, Clinical Project Manager, 38, Japan
✔ Dominique Salloum, CEO – Artificial Intelligence Industry, 53, France/Lebanon
✔ Michael Slavin, Neuro-Ophthalmologist (retired), 71, United States
✔ Dmytro Vynogradov, Business Development Manager, 52, Ukraine
The pianists will live out their piano-playing dreams at Texas's Bass Performance Hall on Tuesday 18 October. They will be required to perform one movement of a concerto each with the Fort Worthy Symphony Orchestra conducted by Miguel Harth-Bedoya.
The winner will receive $2,000 and a performance opportunity with the Calgary Civic Symphony. Second Prize is $1,500 and Third Prize is $1,000. There are also separate cash prizes of $500 each for The Jury Discretionary Awards (3) and the Audience Award.
Where can I watch it?
You can watch replays of all previous rounds, plus following along with the final, here.