Arts & Culture

Eighteen young pianists advance in Fort Worth's Van Cliburn International Piano Competition

KERA | By Bill Zeeble

Published June 5, 2022 at 12:37 PM CDT

Eighteen young pianists, the 16th Van Cliburn International Piano Competition semi-finalists, stand around a grand piano on the Van Cliburn concert hall stage at TCU. They all just advanced after playing on the stage since June 2. The competition continues and will end June 18, when top winners are announced — Eighteen young pianists, the 16th Van Cliburn International Piano Competition quarterfinalists, stand around a grand piano on the Van Cliburn concert hall stage at TCU. They all just advanced after playing on the stage since June 2. The competition continues and will end June 18, when top winners are announced

The competition continues through the weekend. By Monday night, the 18 will be narrowed to 12.

As the 16^th Van Cliburn International Piano competition continues in Fort Worth, the initial 30 pianists have been winnowed down to 18.

Marin Alsop heads the 10-member jury and will conduct the orchestra for the rounds of piano concertos. Before naming the quarterfinalists, she addressed ALL the competitors.

"It’s a cliché of course," said Alsop, "to say that you’re all winners. But clichés are there for a reason, because you truly are are.

"The jury and I would like to congratulate you all on your passion, your commitment, your incredible preparation your incredible stamina, and also most importantly your wonderful artistry. Congratulations to all of you."

The 18 competitors perform through Monday. That evening, the jury will announce a dozen semifinalists.

The Cliburn competition continues through June 18^th.

Here are the 18 semi-finalists:

Albert Cano Smit, Spain/Netherlands
Dmytro Choni, Ukraine
Federico Gad Crema, Italy
Anna Geniushene, Russia
Masaya Kamei, Japan
Uladzislau Khandohi, Belarus
Honggi Kim, South Korea
Andrew Li, United States
Unchan Lim, South Korea
Denis Linnik, Belarus
Kate Liu, United States
Jinhyung Park, South Korea
Changyong Shin, South Korea
Ilya Shmukler, Russia
Clayton Stephenson, United States
Yutong Sun, China
Marcel Tadokoro, France/Japan
Yuki Yoshimi, Japan