Amateur competition: May 23-29, 2011
The Cliburn International Competition for Outstanding Amateurs, featuring 72 pianists from around the world, begins Monday and runs through May 29. Here's what to know before you go:
All rounds take place at Ed Landreth Auditorium on the TCU campus in Fort Worth.
For information about subscription packages ($100-$130) and individual tickets ($10-$35), call 817-738-6536 or go to www.cliburn.org. Individual tickets may be bought at the door.
Preliminaries: 1-5 p.m. and 7:30-10:30 p.m. Monday-Wednesday
All competitors present a 10- to 12-minute solo recital featuring works of their choice. Semifinalists will be announced after competition ends Wednesday. No competition playing Thursday.
Semifinals: 2-5 p.m. and 7:30-10:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday
Twenty-five competitors present a 16- to 20-minute solo recital featuring works of their choice. Finalists will be announced after competition ends Saturday.
Finals: 1-4 p.m. May 29
Six finalists present a 25- to 30-minute solo recital featuring works of their choice. Winners will be announced at 6:30 p.m. May 29.
Judges: A jury of distinguished performers and scholars, as well as a press jury of music critics, will judge all three rounds and oversee the awarding of prizes.
Prizes: Three top-prize winners receive a cash award ($2,000, $1,500 and $1,000 for first, second and third place), plus additional prizes. Jury discretionary, press jury, audience choice and specific programming awards will also be given May 29.
Symposiums: The Cliburn will host two symposiums, which are free and open to the public.
"How Can a Wrong Note Be Perfect?," presented by pianist and author William Westney, will "challenge much of the 'conventional wisdom' about music lessons, relating musical processes to other fields of endeavor and recent neurological findings," the Cliburn says. 10 a.m.-noon Wednesday, Choral Hall, Walsh Center for Performing Arts, TCU.
Press Jury Symposium, presented by Doug McLennan, a Cliburn amateur press jury member and founder of Artsjournal.com, will offer a forum on the state of the arts. 10-11:45 a.m. Saturday, PepsiCo Recital Hall, TCU.
Piano marathon: Competitors who do not advance to the semifinals will present 20-minute recitals of their remaining repertoire. 1-5 p.m. Thursday, Ed Landreth Auditorium. Free.
Film screening: The Cliburn will show They Came to Play, which chronicles the 2007 amateur competition. 7 p.m. Thursday, Moudy Auditorium, Moudy Exhibition Hall, TCU. Free.
Webcast: Can't make it? The Cliburn will stream the entire competition live over the Internet. Watch it at www.dfw.com/cliburn and look there for additional online reports.
-- Staff report
