The 17th Van Cliburn International Piano Competition begins Wednesday, with two fewer competitors than planned.
Korkmaz Can Sağlam, 25, of Turkey and Anastasia Vorotnaya, 30, of Russia both withdrew, citing health reasons. Neither competitor will be replaced, leaving 28 artists left in the running.
“It’s very sad. They prepare for years to achieve this level of playing and what they prepare for the Cliburn, it’s a very demanding repertoire,” said Jacques Marquis, president and CEO of the Cliburn.
“I think it’s very sad for them to not be able to play at the level they would like, but I completely understand their decision.”
The remaining pianists range in age from 18 to 30 and hail from 15 countries, including Russia and Ukraine.
Tinged by war in Ukraine
Auditions for the last competition, in 2022, took place on the heels of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Shortly after the invasion, arts organizations such as The Met and Carnegie Hall sought to distance themselves from Russian artists and institutions who had ties with Russian president Vladimir Putin.
At that time, the Cliburn released a statement condemning the invasion, but announced that they would continue to allow Russian pianists to compete, noting that they were not state sponsored.
A Russian went on to win second place and a pianist from Ukraine took third. The first-place winner was Yunchan Lim from South Korea.
This year, the war continues, and there are three remaining Russian competitors and one Ukrainian.
Marquis said that Cliburn finished orientation for all of the artists Tuesday without issue. “What the Cliburn offers is a platform for talent, vision, artistry and craft,” he said.
The winner’s edge
The Cliburn is considered one of the most prestigious classical music competitions in the world, with an expansive global audience.
The webcast of the 2022 competition brought in 40 million views across 170 countries.
Lim’s gold-medal winning performance of Rachmaninov’s Piano Concerto No. 3 racked up 1.2 million views on YouTube in less than 24 hours.
The competition is named after Van Cliburn, the Texas pianist who defied expectations by traveling to Russia in 1958 and winning the first Tchaikovsky competition at the height of the Cold War.
The first competition took place in 1962, and it quickly grew to be seen as a launchpad for aspiring concert pianists. This year, the gold medal winner’s haul will include $100,000, a management contract and a concert wardrobe from Neiman Marcus.
Performances will take place over a period of nearly three weeks.
The preliminary round runs through Friday, when 18 quarter finalists will be announced. They’ll compete on Saturday and Sunday, when 12 semifinalists will be chosen. That round of concerts will take place from May 28 to June 1, when the final six competitors will be announced.
Final performances will take place June 3- 7. The winners will be announced at a 7 p.m. award ceremony after the final concert on June 7 and will be followed by a free celebration in Sundance Square.
The competition will be livestreamed on the Cliburn’s YouTube channel. You can also watch the competition live on the TCU campus and at Bass Hall. Concert tickets as well as additional screening and on-demand options can be found at cliburn.org.Arts Access is an arts journalism collaboration powered by The Dallas Morning News and KERA.
This community-funded journalism initiative is funded by the Better Together Fund, Carol & Don Glendenning, City of Dallas OAC, The University of Texas at Dallas, Communities Foundation of Texas, The Dallas Foundation, Eugene McDermott Foundation, James & Gayle Halperin Foundation, Jennifer & Peter Altabef and The Meadows Foundation. The News and KERA retain full editorial control of Arts Access’ journalism.
