Latest news with #VanCliburn
South China Morning Post
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- South China Morning Post
Hong Kong pianist Aristo Sham wins prestigious Van Cliburn international competition
Hong Kong pianist Aristo Sham Ching-tao has won the 2025 edition of the prestigious Van Cliburn International Piano Competition, putting him on track for global stardom. Sham, 29, is the first pianist from Hong Kong to win the competition, held in Fort Worth in the US state of Texas. The announcement on June 7 of his victory followed two-and-a-half weeks of intense anticipation as music lovers around the world followed live streams of the contest's four gruelling rounds, which began on May 21 with 28 competitors from 15 countries. After Sham's name was read out by jury chairman Paul Lewis to loud cheers in the packed Bass Performance Hall, the winner stepped onto the stage wearing a bow tie and a huge smile to receive his gold medal and trophy. Aristo Sham, of Hong Kong (right), the overall winner, bronze medal winner Evren Ozel, of the United States (left), and Vitaly Starikov, of Israel and Russia, who came second, during the awards ceremony of the 17th Van Cliburn International Piano Competition at Bass Hall in Fort Worth, Texas, US. Photo: Brandon Wade The silver medal went to Vitaly Starikov of Israel and Russia, and the bronze to Evren Ozel of the United States. Sham started on the piano at the age of three with his piano teacher mother at home in Hong Kong and began competing internationally at the age of 10 while attending the Diocesan Boys' School and studying under Shirley Ip and Professor Eleanor Wong at the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts.
CBS News
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- CBS News
Top pianists from across the world compete at international competition in Texas
The world's best young classical piano players are going for glory at an international piano competition in Texas this week. The Van Cliburn International Piano Competition is named for the famed American concert pianist. The competition, held every four years, is considered by some to be the Olympics of the piano world, pitting young pianists from across the globe against each other in a two and a half week event. According to the competition's website, this year had 340 applicants. Only 28 were invited to compete. Six competitors are this year's finalists. Far from home, some find support in their host families in Fort Worth, Texas, who have a front row seat to the music in their homes. Dr. Stephen and Michelle Maberry were a host family for 23-year-old Yanjun Chen, who made it to the semifinals of the competition this year. Practice sessions — sometimes a few hours long — became personal concerts and turned everyday chores into a sweet serenade. "Oh my gosh, it's wonderful. We love the arts. We love the music and so waking up to hearing that or late night hearing it is fantastic," said Michelle Maberry. For David Maberry, the couple's son, the musical alarm clock seemed like a fairy tale. "I wake up and the light is coming through my blinds and it feels like a Disney movie when I wake up in the morning (with this music playing) … it's amazing," he said. Competitors like Chen keep busy schedules, packed with practice time. "I try to pick sections that are difficult then try to practice them slowly and then get to a normal tempo or just imagining that I'm performing just running through the piece helps too," she said. When Chen isn't rehearsing, she spends time with her host family and plays music to relax. "The mom just comes out in you … you just want to nurture them and take care of them and help them and do whatever it takes to help them succeed," Michelle Maberry said. Chen's emotional performance in the first round drew a standing ovation from the crowd. When she stepped off of the stage, Chen signed autographs and spoke with concertgoers before the Maberrys rushed to greet her. "I was probably more nervous for her that she was," Michelle Maberry admitted. "I said you're going to do great. Good vibes, positive energy, and you know what? She knocked it out of the ball park." While Chen's Van Cliburn journey ended in the semifinals, her passion as a pianist will continue. For the Maberry family, the music she left in their home will echo for years to come.
The Guardian
22-05-2025
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
Rachmaninov: Piano Concerto No 3 album review – hear the performance that made Yunchan Lim a star
As soon as the 2022 Van Cliburn piano competition in Fort Worth, Texas, was over, news travelled across the Atlantic that the latest winner was very special indeed. Over the following year or so, Yunchan Lim's recitals in Europe and a first disc for Decca (of the Chopin Études), together with recordings that documented his performances in the competition, of Liszt's Transcendental Études in his semi-final recital, and Rachmaninov's Third Concerto in the final, confirmed that the reports had been no exaggeration: he is the real thing, a once-in-a-generation talent. Now Decca has reissued the Fort Worth concerto performance, but with the sound significantly cleaned up and rebalanced, and the wonder of Lim's playing if anything enhanced. What is immediately striking is the sheer confidence and poise of everything he does, and the overriding sense that there is never any doubt about the direction in which this majestic concerto should be taken; it's hard to believe that this is the performance of an 18-year-old. Needless to say, every technical challenge in the keyboard writing seems to be effortlessly negotiated, yet the brilliance is never an end in itself; it is always part of a bigger picture, without ever diminishing the thrill of such astonishing command, so that the way the unadorned melodic lines of the slow movement are phrased becomes just as telling as the way in which the densest flurries of notes are negotiated. Just perhaps in the finale, when Lim can seem too headstrong for his own good, does his performance betray his age; otherwise it deserves a place alongside the finest versions of this concerto on disc, from those by Rachmaninov himself and Vladimir Horowitz to Martha Argerich and Vladimir Ashkenazy. Despite Decca's remastering, though, the sound is by no means perfect; some orchestral detail remains too distant, and the string sound is sometimes scrawny and undernourished. Normally such shortcomings might preclude a five-star recommendation, but Lim's playing is so astonishing it's almost irrelevant. This article includes content hosted on We ask for your permission before anything is loaded, as the provider may be using cookies and other technologies. To view this content, click 'Allow and continue'. Listen on Apple Music (above) or Spotify
