ANNOUNCING THE 2020 CLIBURN AMATEUR COMPETITORS
With the 2020 Cliburn Amateur Competition only 11 weeks away, we are thrilled to announce the 48 incredible pianists who have been invited to compete in Fort Worth, Texas, May 24–30. These multitalented musicians represent 18 countries and range in age from 35–69. An additional 24 pianists have been selected as non-competing festival participants, bringing the total number of pianists to 72 and countries represented to 23. See the infographic at the bottom of this email for more stats about the 2020 Amateur competitors.
The Amateur Competition will take place in downtown Fort Worth, Texas, with the Preliminary & Semifinal Rounds at Van Cliburn Recital Hall (330 East 4th Street) followed by the grand finale at Bass Performance Hall (4th and Calhoun Streets) with the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Damon Gupton. All rounds are open to the public, as are many of the festival events. We hope you’ll join us for this truly inspiring, international event, where everyday people become stars of the stage.
Please Note:The Cliburn, in coordination with our partners, is closely monitoring the international situation with the coronavirus (COVID-19) and will be in regular communication with participants and the public as to its effect, if any, on the 2020 Cliburn International Amateur Piano Competition. At this point, we are planning to go forward with the Competition.
LEARN THE STORIES BEHIND THESE INSPIRING PIANIST
UNITED STATES
Illinois
Allen Racho, Software Architect, 47 (Bolingbrook)
INTERNATIONAL
Ken Iisaka, Software Engineer, 51 (lives in Foster City, California); also representing Canada
2020 CLIBURN AMATEUR NON-COMPETING FESTIVAL PARTICIPANTS
Kathy Hodge Abrahamson, Nurse Practitioner, 58, United States (Arlington, Texas)
Anna Antimiichuk, Communications Executive, 37, Russia/United Kingdom (London)
Diane Austin, Researcher (retired), 66, United States (Fort Worth, Texas)
Saffet Bayka, Electronics Engineer (retired), 61, Turkey (Ankara)
Luis Alberto Bernhard, Retinal Angiographer, 70, Honduras (Miami, Florida)
Luke Berryman, Director of Faculty Recruitment, 35, United Kingdom (New York, New York)
Stephen Bertges, Sales and Marketing Executive (Retired), 68, United States (El Dorado Hills, California)
Xiao Chen, Management Professor, 41, China/Canada (Charlottetown, Canada)
Ruth Dillon, Project Manager, 59, Egypt/United States (Troy, Virginia)
Vivienne Fleischer, Ergonomics Consultant/Entrepreneur, 56, United States (Brooklyn, New York)
Catherine Grimball, Military Spouse, 39, United States (Camp Lejeune, North Carolina)
Keiko Kircher, College Physics Instructor, 39, Japan/United States (Champaign, Illinois)
Olivia Lee, Scientific Writer, 38, United States (Seattle, Washington)
Eugene Lee, CEO, 57, United States (Palo Alto, California)
Vincent Phillips, Physician – Anesthesiology, 65, United States (Englewood, Ohio)
Barbara Roeser, Physician – Dermatology, 64, Germany (Bad Arolsen)
Heesun Joyce Rogers, Physician, 56, United States (North Royalton, Ohio)
Esfir Ross, Dental Assistant (retired), 72, United States (Oakland, California)
John William Schleifer, Physician, 37, United States (Omaha, Nebraska)
Michael Stefanakis, Tax Attorney, 37, Greece (Athens)
Hideko Tazawa, Supply Chain Professional, 63, Japan (Tokyo)
Wei Ling Wang, Computer Network Engineer, 56, United States (Plano, Texas)
Elizabeth Yin, Stay-at-Home Mom, 53, United States (Los Altos, California)
Victor You, Attorney, 56, United States (New York, New York)
PURCHASE YOUR TICKETS TODAY!
Can’t make it to Fort Worth to see the Competition in person?
Witness the passion of these pianists online through the Cliburn’s professionally produced live webcast of the Semifinal Round (May 27 & 28, 2020) and Final Round (May 30, 2020) available at Cliburn.org and through YouTube, Vimeo, and Facebook Live.
