Monday, May. 18, 2009

Hand injury forces Cliburn competitor to withdraw

By ALYSON WARD

dfw.com

A hand injury has forced Cliburn competitor Yue Chu to drop out just days before the piano competition begins. A doctor told Chu, 25, that the strain of practicing for — and performing in — the Cliburn could do permanent damage to the injured nerve in his right hand.

Chu won’t be replaced by a runner-up in the competition. Instead of 30, there’ll be just 29 Cliburn competitors this year — the smallest group of pianists in the competition’s 47-year history.

Chu, who grew up in China, is a graduate student at the New England Conservatory in Boston. He had planned to arrive in Fort Worth Monday afternoon before his doctor warned him against competing.

Jerry and James Taylor of Fort Worth were scheduled to be Chu’s host family for the three weeks of the Cliburn.

"I spoke with him this morning following his doctor’s visit," Jerry Taylor said, and learned that he wouldn’t be coming to Fort Worth. "He was very disappointed."

With rest, Chu told Taylor, his hand should recover nicely. But to practice for hours to prepare for a competition right now? "It would have been too much," Taylor said.

Chu couldn’t be reached for comment Monday afternoon.

Now that there’s one less competitor, the Cliburn’s performance schedule will be altered. On May 26, the final day of the preliminary round, the evening session will feature just two performers, not three. That evening’s session will still begin at 7:30 p.m. as scheduled.

The 13th Van Cliburn International Piano Competition begins Friday at Fort Worth’s Bass Hall.

ALYSON WARD, 817-390-7988

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