Vadym Kholodenko (26) from Ukraine has won the 14th Van Cliburn International Piano Competition 2013 in Fort Worth. He received the "Nancy Lee and Perry R. Bass Gold Medal" and US $ 50,000 in cash. Second and Silver Medal was Beatrice Rana from Italy. Sean Chen (USA) received the "Crystal Award". Both were given US $ 20,000 in cash.
In the Finals Vadym Kholodenko impressed the Jury with Mehahem Pressler with concerts of Mozart and Prokofiev. All six finalists were accompanied by the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra conducted by Leonard Slatkin. In the semi-finals the participants were tested with a one-hour solo recital and execution of a chamber music piece with the Brentano String Quartet. Twelve semifinalists played and rehearsed a great romantic piano quintet by Brahms, Schumann, Dvorak or Franck.
Vadym Kholodenko was born 1986 in Kiev and is currently studiying at the Moscow P.I. Tchaikovsky Conservatory. He won first prize at both the International Schubert Competition in Dortmund in 2012, and the Sendai International Music Competition in 2010. Vadym has worked with Yuri Bashmet, Vladimir Spivakov, and other distinguished conductors. He has performed worldwide and especially in Austria, China, the Czech Republic, Finland, France, Germany, Israel, Italy, Japan, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Russia, Switzerland, and the United States. in 2009 he released recordings of Liszt, Rachmaninov, and Medtner on Russia's TV Culture label. Vadym Kholodenko performed and recorded music chamber on a CD with Alena Baeva, and formed a piano duo with Andrey Gugnin which they named “iDuo.”
Beatrice Rana was born 1993 into a family of italian musicians. She began musical studies at the age of four and made her concerto debut when she was nine. She has been invited to perform at the Busoni, La Folle Journée, La Roque d’Antherón, Lanaudière, and Radio-France Festivals and as soloist with the Aarhus Symfoniorkester, Edmonton Symphony Orchestra, Kuala Lumpur Philharmonic Orchestra, Orchestra Internazionale d’Italia, and Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra. First prize winner of the 2011 Montreal International Musical Competition, Beatrice Rana also took first prize at the Muzio Clementi and Bang & Olufsen Piano Competitions. She released 2012 her first CD with works by Scriabin and Chopin on ATMA Classique Label. She currently studies at the Hochschule für Musik, Theater und Medien Hannover, having previously graduated from the Nino Rota Conservatory of Music.
Sean Chen is the 2013 DeHaan Classical Fellow of the American Pianists Association. Second Prize winner at the 2011 Seoul International Music Competition, Third Prize winner at the2013 Morocco Philharmony International Piano Competition, and prizewinner at the 2009 Cleveland International Piano Competition, Mr. Chen has performed with several orchestras, including the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra under Gerard Schwarz, Suwon City Philharmonic under Dai Uk Lee, New West Symphony with Boris Brott, and the Juilliard Orchestra under David Atherton Mr. Chen has been invited to participate in many competitions, most recently the 2013 Cliburn Competition and reaching the semifinals in the 2012 Leeds International Piano Competition. Others include the 2011 and 2009 Cleveland, 2011 Seoul, 2010 Sendai, 2009 Hamamatsu, and 2008 Sydney International Piano Competitions, and the 2005 and 2010 National Chopin Competitions Other awards Mr. Chen has received include Juilliard's 2010 Gina Bachauer Piano Competition, Juilliard’s 2010 Munz Scholarship, the 2010 Paul and Daisy Soros Fellowship for New Americans, the Evelyn Bonar Storrs Scholarship, first prize at the 2008 Juilliard Concerto Competition, the Glenn Miller Scholarship, a prize at the California International Young Artist Competition, Los Angeles Music Center’s Spotlight Award, and a NFAA ARTSweek award Mr. Chen has also presented solo recitals under the auspices of the McGraw-Hill Company, New Mexico Symphony Orchestra, New West Symphony, National Chopin Foundation, the Scriabin society, the Ventura Music Festival, and the Young Artist Guild of the Music Teachers Association of California. He has also worked with composers to perform new music, such as those by Michael Williams, Nicco Athens, Michael Gilbertson, and Reinaldo Moya. He will be releasing an album of Michael Williams’s solo piano works on the Parma record label. In the coming two seasons, Mr. Chen will be performing under the management of the American Pianists Association. Sean Chen has received his Master's and Bachelor's degree at the Juilliard School and is currently pursuing his Artist Diploma with Hung-Kuan Chen at the Yale School of Music as a George W. Miles fellowship recipient. His former teachers include Jerome Lowenthal, Matti Raekallio, and teacher-mentor Edward Francis. When not at the piano he enjoys tinkering with computers and composing.
Van Cliburn, who was diagnosed with advanced bone cancer in August, died February 27th at the age of 78. Cliburn died in the early morning at his Fort Worth home, peacefully, surrounded by his loved ones. Harvey Lavan "Van" Cliburn was born in Shreveport, Louisiana on July 12, 1934. His mother was his first piano teacher. He started received piano lessons from her at age 3. Van Cliburn was a 23-year-old kid from Texas when at the height of the Cold War, he won the first International Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow in 1958. His memorable performance earned him an 8-minute standing ovation and the judge's praises. Time Magazine wrote about him him "The Texan Who Conquered Russia." After the historical victory in Moscow Van Cliburn skyrocketed to fame. He received the Kennedy Center Honors in 2001. In 2003 he received the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award and President George W. Bush awarded him the Presidential Medal of Freedom. President Barack Obama honored Cliburn with the National Medal of Arts in 2010.
At a dinner banquet in November 1958 standing before a crowd of 500 distinguished guests, including Van Cliburn himself and his mother, Rildia Bee O'Bryan Cliburn, Dr. Allison, founder of the National Guild of Piano Teachers announced his intention to offer a $10,000 first prize to be awarded by an international piano competition named in Van Cliburn's honor. The idea ignited the imagination and enthusiasm of music lovers and civic leaders throughout Fort Worth. Volunteers began to raise funds as Ms. Lankford enlisted the support of a range of politicians, composers, conductors, musicians, business leaders, and professional educators to create a world-class international piano competition in a city still affectionately known as "Cowtown." By 1961, evrything was ready, and the Van Cliburn Foundation was officially organized. The Van Cliburn International Piano Competition was first held 1962 and quickly established itself as a major international piano event. Earlier Winners of the Forth Worth Piano competition were Ralph Votapek, Radu Lupu, Cristina Ortiz, Vladimir Viardo, Steven DeGroote, Andre-Michel Schub, José Feghali, Alexei Sultanov, Simone Pedroni, Jon Nakamatsu, Stnislav Ioudenich, Alexander Kobrin, Nobuyuki Tsujii. The Van Cliburn International Piano Competition was launched in 1962 in Fort Worth Texas. Since then the contest has been held almost every four years, sometime every three years. 2013 a total of 30 pianists participated in the two-week competition. For the first time this year the competition was organised and held without its respected founder and namesake, acclaimed pianist Van Cliburn, who passed away in February 2013.
