By Bill Zeeble, KERA News
http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/kera/local-kera-839573.mp3
Fort Worth, TX – A dozen pianists out of the original 29 have now advanced to the semi-finals in the 13th Cliburn International Piano Competition, in Fort Worth.
The oldest is 27, the youngest is 19. There are two pianists each from Italy, South Korea and China. The first blind competitor ever in the competition, from Japan, has also advanced. John Giordano chairs the jury who struggled to pick the pianists.
Giordano: This is such an incredibly difficult job and your emotions are torn because we have such wonderful 29 pianists that what's fascinating to me is sitting in the jury box I feel part of you because your music making is like a window into your soul.
The semi finalists next play a solo recital and a string quintet. They're all competing for 3 top prize that include 20 thousand dollars, 3 years of professional concert management, and a recording deal.
Here are the finalists:
Mr. Evgeni Bozhanov, Bulgaria, 25
Mr. Ran Dank, Israel, 27
Mr. Alessandro Deljavan, Italy, 22
Ms. Kyu Yeon Kim, South Korea, 23
Mr. Eduard Kunz, Russia, 28
Ms. Andrea Lam, Australia, 27
Mr. Michail Lifits, Germany, 26
Ms. Yeol Eum Son, South Korea, 23
Mr. Nobuyuki Tsujii, Japan, 20
Ms. Mariangela Vacatello, Italy, 27
Ms. Di Wu, China, 24
Mr. Haochen Zhang, China, 19