Find out who won the 15th Van Cliburn International Piano Competition!


12 June 2017
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Cliburn-Winners107-30337.jpg Yekwon Sunwoo
After 17 days of exceptional music–making, the gold medal went to Yekwon Sunwoo of South Korea...

 

 

.... And the Gold Medal was awarded to Yekwon Sunwoo, 28, of South Korea

 

After 17 days of exceptional music–making at Nancy Lee and Perry R. Bass Performance Hall in Fort Worth, Texas, the Fifteenth Van Cliburn International Piano Competition announced its winners from the stage on Saturday evening.

 

The winner of the Nancy Lee and Perry R. Bass Gold Medal and the Van Cliburn Winner’s Cup is YEKWON SUNWOO, 28, South Korea. The silver medalist is Kenneth Broberg, 23, United States. The bronze medalist is Daniel Hsu, 19, United States.

 

Watch Gold Medal winner Yekwon Sunwoo's performance or Rachmaninov Piano Concerto No 3 here:

 

 

Yekwon Sunwoo receives a cash award of $50,000; three years of individualized career management, including U.S. concert tours and, in association with Keynote Artist Management, international concert tours and comprehensive career mentorship program; live recording and recording partnership with Universal Music Group's Decca Gold label; promotional package including press kits, videos, website; and performance attire provided by Neiman Marcus.

 

Kenneth Broberg receives a cash award of $25,000; three years of individualized career management, including U.S. concert tours;  live recordings released by Universal Music Group’s Decca Gold label; and a promotional package including press kits, videos, and website.

 

Daniel Hsu receives a cash award of $15,000; three years of individualized career management, including U.S. concert tours; live recordings released by Universal Music Group’s Decca Gold label; and a promotional package including press kits, videos, and website.

 

The remaining three finalists will receive cash awards of $10,000 each, and promotional packages including press kits, videos, and website. They are Rachel Cheung, 25, Hong Kong; Yuri Favorin, 30, Russia; and Georgy Tchaidze, 29, Russia. 

 

 

The Jury, pictured above, comprised:

Leonard Slatkin, jury chairman (United States)

Arnaldo Cohen (Brazil)

Christopher Elton (United Kingdom)

Marc-André Hamelin (Canada)

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Joseph Kalichstein (Israel/United States)

Mari Kodama (Japan)

Anne-Marie McDermott (United States)

Erik T. Tawaststjerna (Finland)

Alexander Toradze (Georgia/United States)

 

OTHER AWARDS

The Steven de Groote Memorial Award for the Best Performance of Chamber Music, with a cash prize of $6,000, was awarded to Daniel Hsu, 19, United States.

The Beverley Taylor Smith Award for the Best Performance of a New Work, with a cash prize of $5,000, was awarded to Daniel Hsu, 19, United States.

The winner of the John Giordano Jury Chairman Discretionary Award, with a cash prize of $4,000, is Dasol Kim, 28, South Korea.

The winner of the Raymond E. Buck Jury Discretionary Award, with a cash prize of $4,000, is Leonardo Pierdomenico, 24, Italy.

The winner of the Jury Discretionary Award, with a cash prize of $4,000, is Tony Yike Yang, 18, Canada.

 

The Audience Award was voted on by more than 20,000 visitors to www.cliburn.org and cliburn2017.medici.tv. The Audience Award winner, Rachel Cheung, will receive a cash award of $2,500.

 

The semifinalists will receive cash awards of $5,000 each.

The quarterfinalists will receive cash awards of $2,500 each.

Preliminary Round competitors will receive cash awards of $1,000 each.

 

Over the 17 days of the 2017 Competition – which took place May 25-June 10, 2017, at Bass Performance Hall in Fort Worth, Texas – each competitor performed live at Bass Hall before the nine-member jury and hundreds of patrons, as well as to a worldwide audience via the Competition’s live, fully produced webcast. 

 

INSIDE PIANIST MAGAZINE! 

If you’re not quite up to the standard of these pianists, then why not enter our (amateur) Pianist magazine Composing Competition? We are looking for non-professionals to compose an original piano piece that will inspire the judges! Full details will be in the next issue (No 97) of Pianist, out on 28th July! Keep tuning in here, though, for details...