‘Cliburn Junior’ history The competition for teens moved to Dallas<\/a> and partnered with SMU and the DSO for the 2019 edition, attracting a new audience of piano enthusiasts on the east side of the Metroplex. (The Cliburn-experts at CultureMap Fort Worth published a guide to getting the most out of the competition<\/a> in Dallas.)<\/p>\n The move to Dallas marked the first time the organization, a crown jewel of Fort Worth culture, staged a major program outside namesake Van Cliburn\u2019s adopted hometown since Cliburn competitions began in 1962<\/a>. <\/p>\n At the time, Marquis explained that, “One key to continuing the Cliburn\u2019s strategic advancement is to continuously reach a broader community, both around the world and in our own backyard.”<\/p>\n The junior competition was held in Dallas again in 2023; Seokyoung Hong, a 15-year-old phenom from South Korea, took home the top prize<\/a>.<\/p>\n A few “Cliburn Junior” laureates have gone on to compete in the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition; notably, Tony Yike Yang, a Canadian pianist who competed in both the 2015 Cliburn junior and the 2017 Cliburn International, where he earned a spot in the semifinals<\/a>. And Clayton Stephenson, who competed in the 2015 Cliburn Junior<\/a> and returned for the 2022 Cliburn International, where he was a fan-favorite finalist<\/a> (and brought the house down in Bass Hall with a performance<\/a> of the Gershwin Piano Concerto.)<\/p>\n The Cliburn also just announced its further stretch, to Houston, where the inaugural Cliburn International Competition for Conductors<\/a> will take place in June 2028.<\/p>\n Looking ahead to 2027 The Final Round will move to the Meyerson Symphony Center, where six young pianists will perform one concerto movement with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Maurice Cohn, music director of the West Virginia Symphony Orchestra and former assistant conductor of the Dallas Symphony Orchestra.<\/p>\n The 2027 competition jury will be chaired by Sa Chen, the 2005 Van Cliburn International Piano Competition bronze medalist. Additional jurors will include:<\/p>\n Kenny Broberg, USA (2017 Cliburn silver medalist) Lucille Chung, Canada\/USAAlessandro Deljavan, Italy (2009 & 2013 Cliburn jury prize winner who returns to DFW frequently for concerts)Marie-Jos\u00e8phe Jude, FranceAlexander Korsantia, Georgia\/USAAlessandro Mazzamuto, ItalyNoriko Ogawa, JapanSteven Osborne, Scotland<\/p>\n Pianists aged 13 to 17 are invited to apply by November 17, 2026. The Cliburn will invite 38 artists to participate as Piano Fellows; from this group, 24 pianists will be selected to compete for prizes. All applicants must have been born on or after June 7, 2010, and before June 19, 2014.<\/p>\n More information can be found at t<\/a>he competition’s website<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Fort Worth-based Cliburn is crossing county lines and making a long-term commitment to Dallas: The arts organization…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":191926,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[46462,102,104,103,8158,76140,15750,76139],"class_list":["post-191925","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-dallas","tag-cliburn","tag-dallas","tag-dallas-headlines","tag-dallas-news","tag-dallas-symphony-orchestra","tag-piano","tag-smu","tag-van-cliburn-competition"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/191925","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=191925"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/191925\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/191926"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=191925"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=191925"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=191925"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
The inaugural Cliburn International Junior Piano Competition and Festival was held in June 2015 at Texas Christian University, with the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra<\/a> accompanying the finalists. The top three finishers in 2015 were from Kazakhstan, Russia, and China. <\/p>\n![\"Cliburn](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/cliburn-junior-competition-winners.jpg\")
![\"Clayton](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/clayton-stephenson-23-of-the-united-states.jpg\")
For the 2027 young pianists’ competition, per tradition, the Preliminary and Semifinal Rounds will be hosted on the campus of SMU, where participants will also reside throughout their time in Dallas.<\/p>\n![\"Alessandro](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/alessandro-deljavan.jpg\")