The 2025 Cliburn Competition brings the world’s top young pianists to Fort Worth
The world’s top young pianists are in Fort Worth for the 17th Van Cliburn International Piano Competition, a preeminent contest of talent that can launch careers in classical music.
The 18-day competition starts Wednesday, May 21, with 28 competitors between 18 and 30 years old from North America, Europe and Asia. They will deliver 40-minute solo performances over multiple rounds toward the grand prize awarded June 7. Along with $100,000 cash, the gold medalist also receives three years of career management and concert tours, a live album and a promotional package.
The Cliburn, held on a four-year cycle, normally starts with 30 juried competitors. Anastasia Vorotnaya of Russia and Korkmaz Can Sağlam of Türkiye have withdrawn for health reasons.
While the competition provides a world stage for these young artists, it also gives people in Fort Worth a rare opportunity to hear performances by some of the world’s most talented pianists. The rounds of competition are held at TCU and Bass Performance Hall.
The Cliburn was established in Fort Worth in 1962. The medalists in the 2025 competition will join an illustrious list of previous winners, including 2022’s luminary Yunchan Lim, who nearly broke Bass Hall during his final performance, and as far back as 1966 gold winner Radu Lupu.
Jacques Marquis has been president and CEO of the Cliburn since 2013, after helping establish the Montreal International Musical Competition. Earning a Cliburn medal is a fast track into the industry, he said.
Take the case of Carnegie Hall’s 2025-26 season. Five Cliburn winners from the past two decades are scheduled to perform there, including Lim on April 24.
Even if competitors don’t make the cut to the next round, they are urged to stay until the end. The organization arranges meetings with professionals to help them advance their careers.
The Cliburn is unique for how much the organization contributes to artistic culture in North Texas, and wherever the performers are from.
The winners return for concerts. Some return to teaching. The overall cultural impact trickles down, too.
“We have people with important careers,” Marquis said. “There could be a music school dean, a teacher with great students and a local pianist who is improving their region with their craft. All of them are part of the process of time. Not everyone is a London, New York or Paris-based pianist. We improve the world every day.”
Not everyone can win the Cliburn, but they all stand out.
“I compare what we do to wine,” Marquis said. “There could be a good winehouse in Bordeaux. You go and they produce a good wine. Wines evolve. Some open up in five to 10 years. We always produce good wine. Some years the vintage is even more exceptional than others.”
But every competition is good for Fort Worth.
“The competition brings the eyes of the world onto the city,” he said.
Families that host the competitors during their time in Fort Worth are a distinctive feature of the Cliburn. Some host competitors in every four years.
Lupu, the 1966 winner, was invited to return for a concert. But he also wanted to carve out time to see his host mother. He learned she died.
He was soft-spoken and did not seek recognition apart from his performance. But that night, he left his seat, walked to the center of the stage and announced his final piece was dedicated to her.
That experience is predictably Cliburn.
The Cliburn 2025 competitors
This is the order that the pianists will perform through the quarterfinals.
- Xuanxiang Wu, China, 18
- Shangru Du, China, 27
- Xiaofu Ju, China, 25
- Ryota Yamazaki, Japan, 26
- Federico Gad Crema, Italy, 26
- Carter Johnson, Canada/United States, 28
- David Khrikuli, Georgia, 24
- Aristo Sham, Hong Kong, China, 29
- Angel Stanislav Wang, United States, 22
- Philipp Lynov, Russia, 26
- Jonas Aumiller, Germany, 26
- Magdalene Ho, Malaysia, 21
- Roman Fediurko, Ukraine, 20
- Mikhail Kambarov, Russia, 24
- Callum McLachlan, United Kingdom, 26
- Jiarui Cheng, China, 26
- Piotr Alexewicz, Poland, 25
- Alice Burla, Canada, 28
- Yanjun Chen, China, 23
- Jonathan Mamora, United States, 30
- Evren Ozel, United States, 26
- Sung Ho Yoo, South Korea, 28
- Chaeyoung Park, South Korea, 27
- Pedro López Salas, Spain, 27
- Kotaro Shigemori, Japan, 25
- Elia Cecino, Italy, 23
- Yangrui Cai, China, 24
- Vitaly Starikov, Israel/Russia, 30
The Cliburn schedule of performances
Preliminary and quarterfinal rounds will be at TCU’s Van Cliburn Concert Hall. Semifinal and final rounds will be at Bass Performance Hall in downtown. Competitors to advance to the next stage will be announced at the end of each round.
Preliminaries: May 21, 22 and 23, 10 a.m., 2:30 and 7:30 p.m.
Quarterfinals: 18 competitors perform a 40-minute recital. May 24, 2:30 and 7:30 p.m.; May 25, 10 a.m., 2:30 and 7:30 p.m.
Semifinals: 12 competitors perform a 60-minute recital and a Mozart concerto with Carlos Miguel Prieto and the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra. May 28, 7:30 p.m. (recitals), May 29-31, 2:30 p.m. (recitals) and 7:30 p.m. (concertos); June 1, 2:30 and 7:30 p.m. (recitals).
Final: Six competitors perform two concertos (one free choice, one from a list) with Marin Alsop and the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra. June 3, 4, and 6, 7:30 p.m.; and June 7, 3 p.m., with the awards ceremony at 7.
For tickets, go to cliburn.org or call 817-212-4280.
The final round and awards ceremony on June 6-7 will stream live in Sundance Square Plaza in downtown Fort Worth. The watch parties are free and open to the public. A winner celebration on June 7, 8-11 p.m., will include live music, fireworks and introductions of the medalists.
You can also watch the competition on the Cliburn’s channel on YouTube.com.
The Cliburn’s 2025 competition jury
- Paul Lewis, chairman (Ireland/United Kingdom)
- Till Fellner (Austria)
- Mari Kodama (Japan/United States)
- Anne-Marie McDermott (United States)
- Gabriela Montero (Venezuela/United States)
- Jon Nakamatsu (United States)
- Lise de la Salle (France)
- Yevgeny Sudbin (United Kingdom)
- Wu Han (Chinese Taipei/United States)
This story was originally published May 20, 2025 at 12:53 PM.