Here are the six finalists in the 13th Van Cliburn International Piano Competition. The judges’ decision was announced shortly after midnight. Evgeni Bozhanov of Bulgaria Yeol Eum Son of South Korea Mariangela Vacatello of Italy Di Wu of China Haochen Zhang of China Nobuyuki Tsujii of Japan Finals performances will begin at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday [...]

The semifinals of the Van Cliburn Competition finished with a flourish Sunday night, with three notable artists giving vivid performances and then turning the competition over to the judges for the finals selection. Two of the last three semifinalists played the same work, Brahms’ Piano Quintet, with the Takács Quartet. Kyu Yeon Kim and Yeol [...]

The final afternoon session of the Van Cliburn Competition semifinals brought some extraordinary music-making on Sunday. Michail Lifits, who has been impressive throughout, gave an engrossing performance of Liszt’s B minor sonata (the fifth of the competition so far) and demonstrated that there is some real art to be found in the piece. Aside from [...]

For the audience, Monday and Tuesday are days off from the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition. But while the six finalists are busy rehearsing with conductor James Conlon and the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra, quite a bit more is actually going on. For one thing, some of the pianists who failed to make it into [...]

Two fine piano quintet performances started and ended Saturday night’s semifinal session at the Van Cliburn Competition. The more impressive was Franck’s Quintet in F minor, played by Evgeni Bozhanov (photo at left) and the Takács Quartet. After a series of Brahms, Schumann and Dvorak quintets, it was a pleasant change to hear the Franck, [...]

The level of Saturday afternoon’s playing at the Cliburn semifinals seemed to me to slip a little from Friday’s high standard. Mariangela Vacatello’s Schumann quintet, played with the Takács Quartet, of course, went very well. She and the quartet formed a fine team, with her prior chamber-music experience a factor. In the finale they were [...]

Here is Sunday’s schedule of semifinal performances in the 13th Van Cliburn International Piano Competition. All sessions are in Bass Performance Hall, Fourth and Commerce in downtown Fort Worth. Matinee Session 1:30 pm.: Nobuyuki Tsujii of Japan will play Beethoven’s Hammerklavier Sonata and Musto’s Improvisation & Fugue. 2:45 p.m.: Haochen Zhang of China and the [...]

Friday night’s session at the Cliburn Competition reinforced the idea that this is going to be a tough one for the judges. There simply are too many people playing well, and that included all three of the evening’s performers. Michail Lifits of Germany (photo at left) joined the Takács Quartet for a beautifully flowing lyrical [...]

Bass Hall was the setting for some marvelous music-making at Friday afternoon’s session of the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition semifinals. One highly successful program was that of the blind Japanese pianist Nobuyuki Tsujii (photo at left). Any idea that he is a superb solo artist but might have difficulty in a collaborative environment was [...]

In the Art&Seek Spotlight, we’re dancing to a new beat. The South Dallas Cultural Center hosts “La Cultura Cura,” Saturday at 2 p.m. to introduce people to Afro-Latin culture.