DALLAS, Texas, June 17, 2023—After 12 days of thrilling competition at Caruth Auditorium at SMU and this afternoon’s Final Round Concert with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra and conductor Valentina Peleggi at the Morton H. Meyerson Symphony Center, the winners of the 2023 Cliburn International Junior Piano Competition and Festival were announced on Saturday evening.
The Winners
Bernice Gressman Meyerson First Prize
cash award of $15,000
Seokyoung Hong 홍석영, 15, South Korea
Shirley Cox McIntyre Second Prize
cash award of $10,000
Yifan Wu 吴一凡, 14, China
The Horchow Family Third Prize
cash award of $5,000
Jan Schulmeister, 16, Czechia
Each finalist will also receive $2,500 scholarships that must be spent toward furthering their musical advancement.
Other Awards
cash award of $500
Seokyoung Hong 홍석영, 15, South Korea
cash awards of $2,500 each
Zihan Jin 金子涵, 14, China
Modan Oyama 大山桃暖, 17, Japan
Zhonghua Wei 魏中华, 14, China
Online viewership for the 2023 Cliburn Junior webcast topped 1.2 million views in 122 Countries, nearly doubling the 2019 Cliburn Junior total of 650,000 views.
ABOUT THE WINNERS
Click here for high-res photos of the 2023 Cliburn Junior Competition
SEOKYOUNG HONG 홍석영, 15, South Korea
Bernice Gressman Meyerson First Prize
Seokyoung Hong has had several first or second-place finishes at international competitions in Korea, Switzerland, and the United States. Following two years at the Yewon School in his native Seoul, he moved to Boston in 2022 to study piano at the New England Conservatory Preparatory School with HaeSun Paik while also attending the Walnut Hill School for the Arts. He’s found himself inspired by his new environment: “Nature inspires me in various ways—its huge size, marvelous detail, the beauty of nature itself, and a lot more. For instance, the enormous entities like the ocean and the universe motivate me but also make me feel that I am only a small human.” Seokyoung finds inspiration and motivation from the two most recent winners of the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition, South Krorea’s Yekwon Sunwoo and Yunchan Lim, which was part of his motivation for taking part in the Cliburn Junior. He also hopes to develop his piano playing and artistry, as well as to build experience performing for large audiences. His interest in composing leads him to constantly study, he says, but he also enjoys riding his bike, playing chess, and participating in the table tennis club at school.
YIFAN WU 吴一凡, 14, China
Shirley Cox McIntyre Second Prize
When he was very young, Yifan Wu’s grandmother would play the piano for him, and his mother shared this same passion for music. He started lessons when he was 4 and began to fall in love with the piano. At age 9, he was admitted to the Music Middle School Affiliated to Shanghai Conservatory of Music, where he has been awarded scholarships each academic year. He says his teacher, Ting Zhou, taught him “to learn music enthusiastically. Now music brings me happiness and gives me greater motivation to learn it further.” He made his recital debut at Steinway Hall in his native Shanghai and his concerto debut with the Wuhan Philharmonic Orchestra, both in 2019. He is a laureate of several national Chinese competitions, including four first-place finishes. He comes to Dallas seeing it as “a good opportunity to improve my piano skills, have a further understanding of music, and most importantly, tap my artistic potential.” Yifan is involved in his school’s badminton club—with weekly matches and/or lectures about the sport—and community cycling team. He also enjoys reading and camping.
JAN SCHULMEISTER, 16, Czechia
The Horchow Family Third Prize
Jan Schulmeister belongs to the sixth generation of the Černý-Schulmeister family, well-known in Czechia for musical ability, and began studying piano with his mother, Martina Schulmeisterová, and Eva Zonová at the age of 5. When he was 7, he started participating in competitions, to remarkable results. He has taken home more than 30 first place or other extraordinary awards, both in his home country and at international competitions in Italy, Belgium, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Estonia, Austria, North Macedonia, and the United States. In 2018, he became the youngest member of the Petrof Art Family, under which he has recorded two CDs. Jan currently continues his studies with Martina Schulmeisterová at the Conservatory of P. J. Vejvanovský Kroměříž, and also takes lessons with Alena Vlasáková at the Janáček Academy of Performing Arts in Brno, Czech Republic, and Ewa Kupiec of the Hochschule für Musik, Theater und Medien, Hannover, Germany. He has a passion for music education and finding innovative ways to reach younger audiences through concerts: “Together with appropriate explanations from me and from their teachers, we can make the ‘musical stories’ more accessible to them. I am always pleased with the subsequent reactions and interesting questions.” Outside of the practice room and stage, he enjoys reading about music history and astronomy, as well as recreational target shooting.
ABOUT THE 2023 CLIBURN JUNIOR
The Cliburn International Junior Piano Competition and Festival was established in 2015 as another means for the Cliburn to use its standing and expertise to encourage tomorrow’s great artists, to provide a valuable forum for them to express themselves, and to give them an entrance to the next step of their journeys. Key ingredients are top international jurors, the media and webcast, Final Round performances with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, and the Festival atmosphere, which includes performance experience and artistic workshops—all put into place to make the program significantly useful for students of piano of the highest level.
2023 QUICK FACTS
COMPETITION Four riveting rounds of Competition took place June 8–17, 2023:
- Preliminary Round (23 pianists each performing 20-minute recitals, including one virtuosic etude and one Bach Prelude and Fugue) at SMU
- Quarterfinal Round (12 pianists each performing a 30-minute recital, including one movement of a Classical sonata and one lyrical work) at SMU
- Semifinal Round (6 pianists each performing a 40-minute recital, including one work by a living composer and one substantial work of at least 16 minutes in length (phase one), and one concerto movement with piano accompaniment (phase two) at SMU
- Final Round (3 pianists each performing one complete concerto with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Valentina Peleggi) in a stunning conclusion at the Meyerson, followed by the Awards Ceremony directly after jury voting.
INTERNATIONAL Applicants and competitors hail from all around the world. 2023 applications totaled 248, with pianists representing 44 countries, and the 38 selected competitors and participants represent 13 countries. Widespread media coverage is expected; 2019 outreach resulted in over 120 stories in North America, South America, Europe, Asia, and Australia.
- Janina Fialkowska, jury chairman (Canada)
- Jane Coop (Canada)
- Adam Golka (United States/Poland)
- Carol Leone (United States)
- Anton Nel (South Africa/United States)
- Roberto Plano (Italy)
- Katia Skanavi (Greece/Russia)
- Jeffrey Swann (United States)
- Orion Weiss (United States)
SMU Meadows School of the Arts is a leader in developing innovative outreach and community engagement programs, challenging its students to make a difference locally and globally. The university will serve as home to the 2023 Junior Competition, hosting most performances and festival events, and housing the competitors.
DALLAS SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA The largest performing arts organization in the Southwest, the DSO is committed to inspiring the broadest possible audience with distinctive classical programs and more. For the second time, the orchestra partners with the Cliburn to perform in the Final Round at the Meyerson Symphony Center under the baton of Valentina Peleggi.
FESTIVAL In addition to the Competition performances, a variety of events aimed at artistic advancement of competitors, festival participants, and other pianists were offered, including masterclasses, workshops, artist conversations, performance discussions, and free community performances around Dallas.
WEBCAST The 2023 Cliburn International Junior Piano Competition and Festival was streamed live online from the first note to the announcement of the new 2023 winner. The 2023 Cliburn Junior webcast included high quality sound and picture; a compelling, immersive program around the performances that gives viewers behind-the-scenes access and insightful commentary.
KEY DATES
- June 8–9, 2023– Preliminary Round (SMU)
- June 10–11, 2023 – Quarterfinal Round (SMU)
- June 14–15, 2023 – Semifinal Round (SMU)
- June 17, 2023 – Final Round and Awards Ceremony (Meyerson)
LOGISTICS Competitors and festival participants were housed at SMU for the duration of the Competition and Festival. All travel (domestic and international) and lodging will be provided by the Cliburn.
ABOUT THE CLIBURN
The Cliburn advances classical piano music throughout the world. Its international competitions, education programs, and concert series embody an enduring commitment to artistic excellence and the discovery of new artists. Established in Fort Worth, Texas, in 1962, the quadrennial Van Cliburn International Piano Competition remains the most visible expression of that mission and is, as always, committed to its original ideals of supporting and launching the careers of emerging artists, age 18–30. It shares the transformative powers of music with a wide global audience, through fully produced webcasts and by providing comprehensive career management and concert bookings to its winners. Rounding out its mission, the Cliburn also produces the Cliburn International Junior Piano Competition and Festival (third edition, June 8–17, 2023) for exceptional 13- to 17-year-old pianists and the Cliburn International Amateur Piano Competition for outstanding non-professional pianists age 35 and older.
Over a four-year cycle, the Cliburn contributes to North Texas’ cultural landscape with over 170 classical music performances for 150,000 attendees through competitions, free community concerts, and its signature Cliburn Concerts series. It presents 1,000 Cliburn in the Classroom in-school, interactive music education programs for more than 200,000 area elementary students. During the same time period, it garners the world’s attention with more than 40 million views from 177 nations for competition webcasts; 300 concerts worldwide booked for competition winners; more than 10,000 news articles about the Cliburn and its winners; and regular national radio broadcasts to 245 public radio stations.
Major Underwriters and Acknowledgements for the 2023 Junior Competition
Bartolucci Family
Mercedes T. Bass
Texas Ballet Theater – Anne T. and Robert M. Bass
Larry E. Boerder Architects – Pencil Point Construction
Capital One
Central Market
Children’s Health
Linda P. and William A. Custard
Hoblitzelle Foundation
Jean Baptiste “Tad” Adoue, III Fund at The Dallas Foundation
Junior League of Dallas
Cece Smith and Ford Lacy
The Eugene McDermott Foundation
Adeline and George McQueen Foundation
Shirley and Bill McIntyre
The Morton H. Meyerson Family Foundation
National Endowment for the Arts
NorthPark Center
The Rea Charitable Trust
The Richard & Enika Schulze Foundation
Sewell Automotive Companies
Janny and Warren Strickland
Carolyn and Jere Thompson, junior
Carla and Kelly Thompson
Official Piano of the Cliburn
Steinway & Sons – North Texas / Houston
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