start a movement
Study Piano at SMU
At SMU Meadows, students benefit from passionate and dedicated educators, challenging programs and generous scholarship support in the heart of culturally vibrant Dallas. Our award-winning students perform on and off campus, double major, study abroad, start their own ensembles and piano studios, and engage with the community. Careers are created when artistry meets opportunity. Learn more at smu.edu/music.
PIANO
FACULTY: David Karp, Carol Leone, Catharine Lysinger, Andrey Ponochevny
PEDAGOGY & COLLABORATIVE STUDIES:
Southern Methodist University (SMU) will not discriminate in any employment practice, education program, education activity, or admissions on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, sex, age, disability, genetic information, or veteran status. SMU’s commitment to equal opportunity includes nondiscrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity and expression. The Executive Director for Access and Equity/ Title IX1 Coordinator is designated to handle inquiries regarding the nondiscrimination policies, including the prohibition of sex discrimination under Title IX. The Executive Director/Title IX Coordinator may be reached at the Perkins Administration Building, Room 204, 6425 Boaz Lane, Dallas, TX 75205, 214-768-3601, accessequity@smu.edu. Inquiries regarding the application of Title IX may also be directed to the Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights of the U.S. Department of Education. 1 Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, 20 U.S.C. §§ 1681-1688.
Liudmila Georgievskaya, Kevin Gunter, Hyae-jin Hwang, Wu Qian, Jason SmithTABLE OF CONTENTS
PAGE
Cliburn Concerts Underwriters 2
2022–2023 Cliburn Schedule 5
Message from the Chairman 7
Message from the President and CEO 9
Cliburn Administration 11
About the Cliburn 13
2022 Cliburn Competition By the Numbers 14
Cliburn Amateur & Junior Competitions 16
Cliburn Education & Outreach 19
Connect with the Cliburn 20
Cliburn Digital Programs 21
Cliburn 180⁰ 22
Season Acknowledgements 23
Yunchan Lim - September 28 & 29 24
Jessie Montgomery - November 3 32
Buddy Bray, host 41 Education & Outreach Sponsors 41
Vadym Kholodenko - November 10 & 11 42
Volunteer Spotlight 50
Cliburn Endowment 52
2021–2022 Cliburn Contributors 53
Tribute Fund 58
Patrons must be 8 years of age or older to attend Cliburn Concerts. Photography and recording are strictly prohibited. All phones and other electronic equipment must be turned off.
CLIBURN CONCERTS ENDOWMENT GIFTS
Nancy Lee & Perry R. Bassd
The Meadows Foundation
Rosalyn G. Rosenthal
Shirley G. Antond
Electra Carlin Estate
d deceased
CLIBURN UNDERWRITERS
Alcon Foundation
Amegy Bank
Arts Fort Worth
BNSF Railway Foundation
Fort Worth Tourism Public Improvement District
Frost Bank
Lowe Foundation
R4 Foundation
Sewell Automotive Companies
Sid W. Richardson Foundation
Texas Commission on the Arts
The Junior League of Fort Worth, Inc.
The Ryan Foundation
The Stayton at Museum Way
Commitments of $20,000 plus as of August 22, 2022.
CREATIVELY.
In TCU’s College of Fine Arts, we put our passion into practice. Our powerful academic and creative community challenges students to excel personally and artistically to become the next generation of world-changing teachers, performers, scholars and arts advocates.
TCU celebrates a rich legacy with The Cliburn, dating back to the first Van Cliburn International Piano Competition hosted on campus in 1962. Learn more at finearts.tcu.edu
Dear friends,
Welcome to the 45th season of Cliburn Concerts, our signature annual performance series! This 2022–2023 edition will feature performances at Bass Performance Hall, the Kimbell Art Museum, The Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth, The Post at River East, and Tulips Fort Worth.
We are thrilled to welcome three of our first-prize Cliburn laureates back to Fort Worth this season: the Sixteenth Van Cliburn International Piano Competition champion, Yunchan Lim, kicks off this series in September; 2013 Gold Medalist Vadym Kholodenko returns in November; and our very first Junior Competition winner, from 2015, Alim Beisembayev, will join us in April. Each of these stellar artists are enjoying very successful worldwide careers, and we look forward to welcoming them home. Rounding out the season, as always, is a wonderful lineup of virtuosos in voice and on piano and strings, with some familiar faces and some new.
The Sixteenth Cliburn Competition this summer was one for the ages. The YouTube video of Yunchan’s Final Round Rach 3 has been viewed more than 7 million times. The Competition webcast videos have been seen 25 million times in 170 countries, and we’ve welcomed 80,000 new followers across all social media platforms. The level of talent, the production, and the results are all unprecedented in our history.
And, due to schedule changes brought on by the COVID pandemic, the 2022 Cliburn was just the beginning of a very busy 12 months of competitions. The Eighth Cliburn International Amateur Piano Competition will be held October 12–18 at Van Cliburn Recital Hall and Bass Hall, and then the Third Cliburn International Junior Piano Competition and Festival will again land at SMU and the Meyerson Symphony Center in Dallas, June 8–17, 2023. Hang on!
It is the mission of the Cliburn to advance classical music throughout the world through its international piano competitions, concert series, and education programs. Cliburn in the Classroom is our proprietary music education offering, presented annually and free of charge to nearly 60,000 public elementary school students across North Texas. This year, we’ll present a full season of 300 programs for the first time since the pandemic began.
Thank you for your continued support of Van Cliburn’s vision and our mission. Please sit back, relax, and enjoy!
Jeffrey B. King Chairman of the BoardCliburn Concerts is celebrating 45 years! Over these years, this signature program has been one of the country’s premier concert series, welcoming the greatest artists of their generations: Yo-Yo Ma, Emmanuel Ax, Renée Fleming, Hilary Hahn, Joshua Bell, and so many more. But what we consider as the “unique selling proposition”—the secret sauce—of this series is the presence of our beloved Cliburn winners. These concerts present a wonderful opportunity to envelop them once again in the warmth of their adopted hometown and to stay closely connected with them as their careers continue to grow. This fall alone, we are extremely fortunate to have two of our most inspiring and supremely talented gold medalists.
Yunchan Lim wowed the world with his performances during the last Competition. From the first recital rounds to the concerto rounds, his videos have more than 17 million views on YouTube alone! And counting… Once again, the Cliburn is bringing the eyes of the world to Fort Worth. As importantly, we are thrilled to be working with him now to help him build the kind of career that he wants, artistically and personally. It is the Cliburn’s honor to be a significant part of his story, of what will surely be an extraordinary journey. Vadym Kholodenko, our gold medalist of 2013, is universally acclaimed by audiences, critics, and his own peers. His unique sound and approach to the music will conquer you—you certainly will not want to miss his stunning return to Fort Worth in his first Cliburn Concerts appearance in 9 years. Vadym will play his first concert at the Kimbell, then he also looks forward to performing on the cool, casual patio of The Post at River East the next day!
The Cliburn International Amateur Piano Competition is back! After postponement from 2020, we are happy to finally welcome these pianists in this unique celebration of music making. Thirtynine artists from 16 countries will compete to have the chance to play at Bass Performance Hall with the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Miguel Harth-Bedoya! We invite you to join us there for the Final Round, when six talented pianists will each perform one movement of a concerto. What a chance, for a lawyer, doctor, software engineer, academic, to play with a professional orchestra at this famed venue—the environment will be electric as they live out their dreams. And Jessie Montgomery—composer, educator, violinist—was recently appointed composer-in-residence for the prestigious Chicago Symphony Orchestra. She will be the guest of the multifaceted and multitalented Buddy Bray for our series at the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth. Seven musicians will bring you her different repertoire, with introductions by and discussions with the composer.
The season will go on in the new year with a slew of Cliburn Concerts debuts: mezzo-soprano J’Nai Bridges, pianist Benjamin Grosvenor, and 2015 Cliburn Junior winner and 2021 Leeds Gold Medalist Alim Beisembayev! Plus the return of Joshua Roman, one of our favorite cellists. See y’all soon!
Jacques Marquis President and CEOkimbellart.org
EXECUTIVE OFFICE
Jacques Marquis President and CEO jmarquis@cliburn.org
Kahoru Amano Manager of Arts and Business Administration kamano@cliburn.org
ARTISTIC PLANNING & OPERATIONS
Sandra Doan Director of Artistic Planning sdoan@cliburn.org
Michael Bellinson Manager of Artistic Administration mbellinson@cliburn.org
Nicole Paglialonga Artistic Programs Associate npaglialonga@cliburn.org
COMMUNICATIONS
Maggie Estes Director of Communications and Digital Content mestes@cliburn.org
Garrett Owen Communications and Digital Content Manager gowen@cliburn.org
MARKETING
Kimberly Blouin Director of Marketing kblouin@cliburn.org
DEVELOPMENT
Kay Howell
Chief Donor Relations Officer khowell@cliburn.org
Marianne Pohle Director of Development mpohle@cliburn.org
Corrie Donovan Donor Relations Manager cdonovan@cliburn.org
Claire Serafin Development Associate cserafin@cliburn.org
FINANCE
Alissa Ford Chief Financial Officer aford@cliburn.org
Susan Henry Finance and HR Administrator shenry@cliburn.org
Linda McMillan Business Systems and Records Administrator lmcmillan@cliburn.org
MAIN OFFICE
201 Main Street, Suite 100 I Fort Worth, Texas 76102 817.738.6536 I generalinformation@cliburn.org I cliburn.org
The Cliburn advances classical piano music throughout the world. Its international competitions, education programs, and concert series embody an enduring commitment to artistic excellence and the discovery of new artists. Established in Fort Worth, Texas, in 1962, the quadrennial Van Cliburn International Piano Competition (sixteenth edition, June 2–18, 2022) remains the most visible expression of that mission and is, as always, committed to its original ideals of supporting and launching the careers of emerging artists, age 18–30. It shares the transformative powers of music with a wide global audience, through fully produced webcasts and by providing comprehensive career management and concert bookings to its winners. Rounding out its mission, the Cliburn also produces the Cliburn International Junior Piano Competition and Festival (third edition, June 8–17, 2023) for exceptional 13- to 17-year-old pianists and the Cliburn International Amateur Piano Competition (eighth edition, October 12–18, 2022) for outstanding non-professional pianists age 35 and older.
Over a four-year cycle, the Cliburn contributes to North Texas’ cultural landscape with over 170 classical music performances for 150,000 attendees through competitions, free community concerts, and its signature Cliburn Concerts series. It presents 1,000 Cliburn in the Classroom in-school, interactive music education programs for more than 200,000 area elementary students. During the same time period, it garners the world’s attention with more than 30 million views from 170 nations for competition webcasts; 300 concerts worldwide booked for competition winners; more than 10,000 news articles about the Cliburn and its winners; and regular national radio broadcasts to 245 public radio stations.
A COMPETITION OF HISTORIC PROPORTIONS
Against an unprecedented international backdrop, the transcendence of music triumphed at the sixteenth edition of the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition, with a slew of uplifting firsts that made for a global event never to be replicated.
BY THE NUMBERS
THE WORLDWIDE PRESS
More than 70 journalists from around the world covered the Competition in person, with hundreds more following online through the webcast. 2000+ articles were written across 50 countries, reaching countless people with news of the outstanding talent showcased on the Cliburn stage and winning new fans for classical music. Another 3000+ pieces were written in Korea alone, about Gold Medalist Yunchan Lim.
THE WORLDWIDE COMMUNITY
The Cliburn’s active presence on Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, Twitter, and WeChat created a community around music this June; an unprecedented number of music fans from every part of the world connected, watched, and discussed what was happening on stage in Fort Worth.
THE WORLDWIDE AUDIENCE
The 2022 webcast was the first of its kind to offer 4K picture and surround sound and has become one of the most-watched classical music events of all time, with more than:
MIGUEL HARTH-BEDOYA, CONDUCTOR
Inaugurated in 1999, the Cliburn International Amateur Piano Competition was the first event of its kind in the United States. Hailed by the Boston Globe as “a celebration of music, and the people who have to make music no matter what,” the contest highlights the importance of music-making in everyday life and provides a forum for non-professional pianists age 35 and older. Join us this year to cheer them on through two rounds of recitals and the culminating Final Round, when six outstanding artists will perform with the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra and Miguel HarthBedoya. They’ve been preparing for many years for this opportunity—witness every note live!
The Junior Competition and Festival was established in 2015 as another means for the Cliburn to use its standing and expertise to encourage tomorrow’s great artists, to provide a valuable forum for them to express themselves, and to give them an entrance to the next step of their journeys. Key ingredients are top international jurors, the media and webcast, Final Round performances with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, and the festival atmosphere, which includes performance experience and artistic workshops—all put into place to make the program significantly useful for students with
of being professional musicians.
The Cliburn’s mission is to share excellent classical music with the largest audience possible, across cultural and economic boundaries. Through our host of annual programs, this vision hits home, reaching our local community in a meaningful way. In addition to our Cliburn Concerts series, the following initiatives inspire and educate North Texans of all ages throughout the year.
CLIBURN IN THE CLASSROOM
The Cliburn designed Cliburn in the Classroom, its signature music education program, to introduce young audiences to classical music. Cliburn in the Classroom programs present the excitement of live piano performances to second-, third-, and fourth-grade students and reinforce the basic elements of music through fun, interactive activities within the context of classical piano repertoire. Cliburn in the Classroom is presented annually to more than 60,000 public elementary students across North Texas. The programs are offered at no cost to participating schools.
CLIBURN IN THE COMMUNITY
Cliburn in the Community provides the experience of live classical music performance for free to a broad audience through partnerships with vibrant venues and organizations throughout the Fort Worth area. The program brings in young, emerging artists for residencies and also features top regionally based musicians.
DIGITAL PROGRAMS
In 2020, the Cliburn launched a number of new digital offerings designed to bring its worldwide community together virtually, in a safe and joyful space for us all, no matter age, culture, or physical location.
CLIBURN MASTERPIECE
Cliburn Masterpiece examines the who, what, when, where, and how of the greatest piano works. Cliburn laureates and other esteemed specialists join host Buddy Bray to lead us through the story of each piece— the composer, the background, the narrative, the characters, the technical difficulties, and more. Each episode ends with a standout, full performance of the piece from a past Cliburn Competition.
CLIBURN.ORG/MASTERPIECE
CLIBURN KIDS
For our youngest Cliburn friends! Cliburn Kids is a collection of wonderfully entertaining 7- to 10-minute videos designed to introduce children to the fun of classical music. How does music paint pictures, tell stories, express feelings? Host Buddy Bray and guest artists use individual pieces to explore topics that delve into the way music is organized and structured, counting and rhythm, expressive elements, and sometimes just lighthearted enjoyment!
The Cliburn’s annual programs, including Cliburn Concerts, are a collaborative effort of artists, staff, and many dedicated volunteers and supporters. We gratefully acknowledge the following individuals and organizations for their contributions to the success of the 2021–2022 season.
VOLUNTEERS
Marilyn and Brad Brewster
Margaret and Craig Dearden
Bonnie Dove Kay and George Duggan
Barbara Hinds
Sandra and Allan Howeth
Barbara Jani
Janet Key
Jim Key
Johanna Kimpland Tony Kroll and Dirk Maney
Adelaide Leavens
Sarah and Victor Munoz
Thomas Ragozzino
Natalie Wilkins Nancy and Paul Witt
FACILITIES, SERVICES, AND PRODUCTS
Kimbell Art Museum
Marsha and John Kleinheinz
EVENT HOSTS
Susanne and Kevin Avondet
Steve Brauer Kay and George Duggan Beth and Randy Gideon
Jordan Smith / St. Stephen Presbyterian Church
The Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth
Carolyn and Randall Hudson Toni and Will Leavitt Medea and Jon Suder Jennifer and Philip Williamson
SUPPORT THE CLIBURN
The Cliburn was founded in 1962, and has flourished since on the shoulders of a community of supporters—committed individuals, corporations, foundations, and arts, service, and educational organizations. The dedication of your time and resources fulfills the Cliburn’s mission of providing life-changing opportunities for young pianists, participatory music education for public elementary school children, and access to excellent art for lovers of music. In essence, continuing Van Cliburn’s vision of sharing classical music with the largest possible audience.
Lim is a one-in-a-million talent. – Dallas Morning News
‘‘ ’’Photo credit: Lisa-Marie Mazzucco
YUNCHAN LIM
PIANO
Wednesday & Thursday, September 28 & 29, 2022 I 7:30 p.m. Kimbell Art Museum
BRAHMS Four Ballades, op. 10 Andante Andante Intermezzo. Allegro Andante con moto
MENDELSSOHN Fantasy in F-sharp Minor, op. 28 “Scottish Sonata” Con moto agitato Allegro con moto Presto
intermission
LISZT Deux légendes
St. François d’Assise: la prédication aux oiseaux St. François de Paule: marchant sur les flots
Après une lecture du Dante: Fantasia quasi Sonata
Steinway & Sons is the official piano of the Cliburn. Support provided by the Ann Frasher Hudson Performance Piano Endowment Fund. Please silence all electronic devices. No recording is allowed.
In June 2022, Yunchan Lim became the youngest person ever to win gold at the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition; his performances throughout showcased a “magical ability” and a “natural, instinctive quality” (La Scena) that astounded listeners around the world. As Jury Chair Marin Alsop expressed: “Yunchan is that rare artist who brings profound musicality and prodigious technique organically together.” The depth of his artistry and connection to listeners also secured him the Audience Award and Best Performance of a New Work (for Sir Stephen Hough’s Fanfare Toccata).
Just 18 years old, Yunchan’s ascent to international stardom has been meteoric. His audacious Cliburn Semifinal Round performance of Liszt’s Transcendental Etudes “created a buzz throughout the international piano community”—his “intelligent virtuosity and total immersion into Liszt’s idiom truly defined
Photo credit: Lisa-Marie Mazzuccotranscendental” (Gramophone). And his final Cliburn Competition appearance with Rachmaninov’s Piano Concerto No. 3 delivered the defining moment of the three-week event; as one critic noted: “The applause that followed was endless: a star had emerged before our eyes” (Seen and Heard International). The video of that performance trended globally on YouTube in the days after, reaching #24, and has now become the most-watched version of that piece on the platform, amassing more than 5.5 million views in just one month.
Born in Siheung, Korea, Yunchan Lim began piano lessons at age 7, when it was time to choose an after-school activity; he entered the Music Academy of the Seoul Arts Center the next year and quickly became immersed in his musical studies. He auditioned for and was accepted into the Korea National Institute for the Gifted in Arts at age 13, where he met his teacher and mentor, Minsoo Sohn. Yunchan entered the international music stage a year later, in 2018, winning second prize and the Chopin Special Award in his first-ever competition, the Cleveland International Piano Competition for Young Artists. Also that year, he stood out as the youngest participant in the Cooper International Competition, where he won both third prize and the audience prize, and was provided the opportunity to perform with The Cleveland Orchestra. The next year, 2019, brought more accolades, when, at the age of 15, he was the youngest to win Korea’s IsangYun International Competition, also taking home two special prizes.
Yunchan has since performed across South Korea—including with the Korean Orchestra Festival, Korea Symphony, Suwon Philharmonic, and Busan Philharmonic Orchestras, among others—as well as in Madrid, at the invitation of the Korea Cultural Center in Spain. He also participated in the recording of “2020 Young Musicians of Korea,” organized by the Korean Broadcasting System and released that November. His 2022–2023 inaugural tour as Cliburn winner will take him across four continents, with highlights including the Aspen Music Festival, La Jolla Music Society, and Performing Arts Houston in the United States; Seoul Arts Center, National Concert Hall in Taipei, and the KBS and Korean National Symphony Orchestras in Asia; Wigmore Hall and Fondation Louis Vuitton in Europe; and a recital tour in South America. Also coming soon: the release of his debut recording on the Steinway label.
Speaking at a press conference after the Competition, Yunchan said, “I made up my mind that I will live my life only for the sake of music, and I decided that I will give up everything for music… I wanted my music to become deeper, and if that desire reached the audience, I’m satisfied.”
He is currently in his second year at the Korea National University of Arts, where he continues to study with Mr. Sohn.
Four Ballades, op. 10
Johannes Brahms (1833–1897)
THE PIANO TELLS A STORY
In his late piano music, Johannes Brahms was a master of concision: a few wellordered notes could generate a perfect, self-contained musical moment, and the older he got, the better he was at composing this way. Earlier in his life, though, his impulses led him differently. He plunged into sprawling forms like the sonata, and left us three substantial canvases in that form. Each has its own atmosphere, and each has both virtuosic and narrative qualities.
Storytelling in purely instrumental music was a very popular idea in the mid-19th century. Frédéric Chopin had written the first of his ballades in 1831, two years before Brahms was born. The term itself was a nod to the ballads that were a written and oral tradition in England and on the continent: styles varied by century and country, but always there were discernible structure, rhythm, and narrative arc. Chopin took all that to heart, and so would Brahms, when he wrote his Four Ballades, op. 10 in 1854.
The 21-year-old Brahms did not adopt the form casually. The first of these ballades is inspired by the Scottish ballad “Edward,” which Brahms encountered in J.G. Herder’s Stimson der Volke in Liedern (Voices of the People in Song). The “Edward” ballad is dark in subject, but there is definite form and rhythm:
Why does your sword so drip with blood, Edward, Edward?
Why does your sword so drip with blood, And why so sad go you, O?
O I have killed my father dear, Mother, mother,
O I have killed my father dear, Alas and woe is me, O!
That’s intense enough to draw the interest of any 21-year-old composer, and Brahms was not immune to its possibilities. He crafted a piano piece in three discernible sections, by turns haunting, inexorable, and resigned. And it was only the beginning of this remarkable opus.
The ensuing three ballades bear no inscriptions nor literary citations, but they do share characteristics with the first: they are sectional, and they aim to tell their
stories straight, with a beginning, a middle, and an end. The second ballade is particularly like the first in that it shares a tonality (D), a meter (4/4), and a master layout. Lyric, gentle moments bookend a more intense, forward-leaning middle section.
That intensity becomes the ignition for the third ballade, which tells a more uncertain story. The young Brahms here employs devices he would use as a more mature composer, not least in the use of the subtitle “intermezzo.” He shifts to a different meter (6/8), and a different tonal center, but even that is hard to discern because he employs syncopation and displaces the “strong” beats, so that the listener is sometimes challenged to find the groove. Brahms is more adventurous with harmony in this ballade as well, and that too creates narrative tension.
In each of the ballades, Brahms has forged a structure that is clearly delineated, but in the final ballade he found a way to enhance his process. The opening section is valedictory in character (a welcome change from the instability of the preceding intermezzo), and it gives way to a middle section that searches for a harmonic anchor. He invests the concluding section with some of this searching quality, so that the familiar opening material is now less certain and valedictory, and more as if he’s taking the measure of the journey he has accomplished with the set of four.
Fantasy in F-sharp Minor, op. 28 “Scottish Sonata” Felix Mendelssohn (1809–1847)
MENDELSSOHN AND SCOTLAND
Before Brahms’ creativity was sparked by a Scottish ballad, Felix Mendelssohn had been enthusiastic about Scottish literature, particularly the works of Sir Walter Scott (Ivanhoe, The Lady of the Lake). Mendelssohn travelled to Scotland in 1829, and his visit produced two of his most enduring concert works: the Hebrides Overture (1834) and his Symphony No. 3, the “Scottish” (1841). That same visit may also have spurred him to produce his Fantasy, op. 28 for piano, which he called his “Scottish Sonata,” until he readied it for publication.
If changing fashion and almost two centuries have now made it difficult to discern anything Scottish about the music or its atmosphere (maybe the short second movement sounds a little Scottish?), listeners (and pianists) can still marvel at Mendelssohn’s singular way of writing for his instrument. In an era when pianos were not quite the hearty, durable instruments we encounter today, Mendelssohn was quick to seize the opportunities his piano presented: clarity, delicacy, and speed.
In three brief movements, the Fantasy is a work made for a virtuoso pianist in the strictest sense. While the work has many lyrical moments and striking atmospheric touches (including the very beginning, where Mendelssohn creates a halo of sound by using the sustaining pedal), its real glory is in its fast, febrile final movement, which is a non-stop flurry of notes and activity. Beyond mastering a cavalcade of notes, the pianist must invite the audience to go on a high-speed train: there will be thrills and sharp curves, but the train is never in danger of derailing.
Deux légendes
Après une lecture du Dante: Fantasia quasi Sonata Franz Liszt (1811–1886)
BETWEEN HEAVEN AND HELL
Franz Liszt was a man of great ambition. As a young man, he felt that there were gaps in his formal education, so he devised a reading program for himself. Later, he was enchanted by a life on the stage, and by the fame his pianistic gifts could bring him. (Indeed, he wanted a career to rival the fabled violinist Niccolò Paganini, whose fans were convinced that he had struck a deal with the devil in order to play the violin the way he did.)
After some years as a piano virtuoso, Liszt aspired to other things: he wanted to leave a distinguished body of work behind, and he wanted to pass his pianistic knowledge on to a new crop of pianists.
These worldly concerns were a full enough plate, but Liszt was drawn to the spiritual realm as well. He had sought solace in the Church during difficult periods in his life, particularly a three-year stretch in which two of his adult children died: Daniel in 1859, and daughter Blandine in 1862. In 1865, Liszt received four minor orders of the priesthood; he had, in 1857, become a member of the Third Order of St. Francis.
That religious order was founded by Francis of Assisi, who was canonized in 1228, and whose legendary sermon to the birds is the subject of Liszt’s first of two Legends. Making full use of the piano’s upper half—fully four minutes of the piece pass before he writes anything below middle C—Liszt renders birds in flight and in song. When St. Francis begins speaking, first in a recitative style and then a little more emphatically, he reminds the birds to be grateful for the freedom that flying brings, and for the voices to praise the Divine.
A different hero is the subject of the next Legend. St. Francis of Paola founded the Order of Minims in 1436. Its adherents took the usual vows of poverty and chastity, but they also abstained from meat and dairy products. Their simple motto was “Charitas,” established by St. Francis himself after it had been given to him in a vision by the archangel Michael.
Francis of Paola was canonized in 1519, and is the patron saint of mariners and naval officers. Indeed, seafarers play a central role in one of the most intriguing legends surrounding him: having been denied passage to cross the Strait of Messina to Sicily, Francis placed his cloak directly on the water, fashioned a sail from one end of it, and provided his own way!
That legendary day in 1464 provides the narrative arc for the second of Liszt’s Legends, St. François de Paule: marchant sur les flots, and it is a story just made for the piano. The components are at once recognizable to the listener: a hymnlike theme gives voice to St. Francis, and the play of the waves—sometimes benevolent, sometimes menacing—is described by the undulating tremolandi and the rapid figuration in the pianist’s left hand. This trip across the strait is not always calm, but St. Francis is always a steady hand.
The interval of the tritone has incited both grief and delight in music lovers for centuries. Its name seems innocuous enough—an interval spanning three whole steps (or “tones”)—but its auditory sensation is one of confusion and instability. Medieval scholars called it “diabolus in musica,” which makes it a perfect device for the strident opening of Liszt’s Dante Sonata of 1849. ( Apres un lecture de Dante: Fantasia quasi Sonata). That harmonically ambiguous—but very insistent— opening will give way to two themes, which will do battle with one another over the course of this one-movement work.
One theme whips up an agitated atmosphere, and employs a feverish tempo and piano virtuosity of a high order; the other’s nature is serene and draws upon the more lyrical qualities of the piano. The interplay of these themes tells the story of the work, and point the way in Dante’s—and Liszt’s—journey from darkness to light, from inferno to paradise.
Turbulent, wildly colorful and exploding with life. – The Washington Post
‘‘ ’’
Photo credit: Jiyang ChenJESSIE MONTGOMERY
COMPOSER
performances by
Swang Lin (violin) Mai Ke (violin) DJ Cheek (viola) John Belk (cello) William Clay (bass) Ivan Petruzziello (clarinet)
Erica Vernice Simmons (soprano)
Thursday, November 3, 2022 I 7:30 p.m. The Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth with Buddy Bray, host
Source Code (string quartet)
Lunar Songs (string quintet, soprano) Peace (clarinet and piano)
I Want to Go Home (string quartet, soprano) Strum (string quartet)
Jessie Montgomery appears by arrangement with MKI Artists. Steinway & Sons is the official piano of the Cliburn.
Support provided by the Ann Frasher Hudson Performance Piano Endowment Fund. Please silence all electronic devices. No recording is allowed.
Jessie Montgomery is an acclaimed composer, violinist, and educator. She is the recipient of the Leonard Bernstein Award from the ASCAP Foundation and the Sphinx Medal of Excellence, and her works are performed frequently around the world by leading musicians and ensembles. Her music interweaves classical music with elements of vernacular music, improvisation, poetry, and social consciousness, making her an acute interpreter of 21st-century American sound and experience. Her profoundly felt works have been described as “turbulent, wildly colorful and exploding with life” (The Washington Post).
Jessie was born and raised in Manhattan’s Lower East Side in the 1980s during a time when the neighborhood was at a major turning point in its history. Artists gravitated to the hotbed of artistic experimentation and community development. Her parents—her father a musician, her mother a theater artist and storyteller—were engaged in the activities of the neighborhood and regularly brought Jessie to rallies, performances, and parties where neighbors, activists, and artists gathered to celebrate and support the movements of the time. It is from this unique experience that Jessie has created a life that merges composing, performance, education, and advocacy.
Her growing body of work includes solo, chamber, vocal, and orchestral works. Some recent highlights include Shift, Change, Turn (2019) commissioned by the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra and the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, Coincident Dances (2018) for the Chicago Sinfonietta, Caught by the Wind (2016) for the Albany Symphony and the American Music Festival, and Banner (2014)—written to mark the 200th anniversary of “The Star Spangled Banner”—for The Sphinx Organization and the Joyce Foundation.
Since 1999, Jessie has been affiliated with The Sphinx Organization, which supports young African-American and Latinx string players, and has served as composer-inresidence for the Sphinx Virtuosi, the Organization’s flagship professional touring ensemble. She was a two-time laureate of the annual Sphinx Competition and was awarded their highest honor, the Sphinx Medal of Excellence. She has received additional grants and awards from the ASCAP Foundation, Chamber Music America, American Composers Orchestra, the Joyce Foundation, and the Sorel Organization.
The New York Philharmonic has selected Jessie as one of the featured composers for their Project 19, which marks the centennial of the ratification of the 19th Amendment, granting equal voting rights in the United States to women. Other forthcoming works include a nonet inspired by the Great Migration, told from the perspective of Montgomery’s great-grandfather William McCauley and to be performed by Imani Winds and the Catalyst Quartet; a cello concerto for Thomas Mesa jointly commissioned by Carnegie Hall, New World Symphony, and The Sphinx Organization; a new orchestral work for the National Symphony Orchestra; a viola concerto, L.E.S Characters, for Masumi per Rostad commissioned by the Grant Park Music Festival, City Music Cleveland, Interlochen Center for the Arts, the Orlando Philharmonic, and the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra; a new arrangement of a song cycle, Five Freedom Songs, written for soprano Julia Bullock, and a site-specific collaboration with Bard SummerScape Festival and Pam Tanowitz Dance, I was waiting for the echo of a better day, with choreography by Pam Tanowitz and music by Jessie Montgomery and Big Dog Little Dog.
Jessie began her violin studies at the Third Street Music School Settlement, one of the oldest community organizations in the country. A founding member of PUBLIQuartet and former member of the Catalyst Quartet, she continues to maintain an active performance career as a violinist appearing regularly with her own ensembles, as well as with the Silkroad Ensemble and Sphinx Virtuosi.
Jessie’s teachers and mentors include Sally Thomas, Ann Setzer, Alice Kanack, Joan Tower, Derek Bermel, Mark Suozzo, Ira Newborn, and Laura Kaminsky. She holds degrees from The Juilliard School and New York University and is currently a Graduate Fellow in Music Composition at Princeton University. She is professor of violin and composition at The New School. In May 2021, she emarked on her appointment as the Mead Composer-in-Residence with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra.
SWANG LIN violin
A native of Taipei, Taiwan, Swang Lin began the study of violin at the age of 6. Later he studied with Zvi Zeitlin at the Eastman School of Music, where he earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees. His performances have taken him throughout the United States, Germany, Austria, Spain, Switzerland, Italy, and England, as well as Taiwan. He is currently the associate concertmaster of the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra.
Before joining the Fort Worth Symphony in 1991, Swang performed with the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra and the Orchestra of St. Luke’s in New York. Engagements with these groups have led him to concert halls and festivals across the United States and Europe. He held the concertmaster position with the West Virginia Symphony and the Bear Valley Music Festival, and guest concertmaster with Taipei City Symphony, Atlantic Classical Orchestra, and East Texas Symphony. He has performed at Tanglewood, Caramoor, Colorado, and Killington Music Festivals, and Snowbird Institute, as well as the National Taiwan Symphony’s Youth Summer Music Camp in recent years.
Swang’s concerto appearances include Fort Worth Symphony, West Virginia Symphony, Kaohsiung City Symphony (Taiwan), Shanghai Broadcast Symphony, Kunming Symphony (China), Taipei City Symphony Orchestra, and Lewisville Lake Symphony. His performances have been heard nationally on APM’s Performance Today and regionally on WRR, KBYU, WVPR, and have been televised on Good Morning America and on PBS.
Swang Lin performs on the “Eugenie, ex-Mackenzie” Antonio Stradivari violin (1685), generously on loan to the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra Association from an anonymous patron.
MAI KE violin
Mai Ke (a.k.a. MaiKe) is originally from China and began violin study at age 4 under his father’s influence. Before he joined the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra in 2018, he was violinist of the Dallas Opera Orchestra and the second principal violin of Des Moines Metro Opera. MaiKe studied the art of violin playing with Emanuel Borok, former concertmaster of the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, and received a Performance Diploma from the SMU Meadows School of the Arts in 2014.
After MaiKe acquired master’s and bachelor’s degrees in violin performance in the National Music Academy of Ukraine in 2007, he won the position of first violin of the National Philharmonic Orchestra of Ukraine. In 2011, after a global online audition, MaiKe was selected as principal second violinist for the 2011 YouTube Symphony Orchestra in Sydney, Australia.
As an active chamber musician, MaiKe is the founding member of Cezanne Quartet, which was awarded the Peak Chamber Music Fellowship at the SMU Meadows School in 2014 and won the second prize in the Coltman Chamber Music Competition in Austin in 2015. MaiKe plays a rare fine violin made by Carl Becker in 1919.
DJ CHEEK viola
DJ Cheek joined the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra as principal viola in August 2021. Prior to his current appointment, he played principal viola for four years in the Jacksonville Symphony. In recent seasons he appeared as guest principal with the Indianapolis Symphony and as a substitute with the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra and Minnesota Orchestra.
In the summer, DJ serves as principal viola at the Colorado Music Festival, and he teaches at the Interlochen Adult Chamber Music Camp. He previously taught viola and chamber music at the University of North Florida and the National Music Festival. He has appeared at festivals like Music@Menlo, the Perlman Music Program, Lucerne, Sarasota, Olympic, and Yellow Barn. He performed as a guest artist with the Borromeo Quartet, and with Donald Weilerstein and Kim Kashkashian as part of the Music for Food series. DJ holds a master’s degree from New England Conservatory and a bachelor’s degree from Oberlin College-Conservatory. His primary mentors are Kim Kashkashian and Peter Slowik.
JOHN BELK cello
A native of Minnesota, cellist John Belk joined the Fort Worth Symphony in January 2022. Recent concert highlights include a performance of the Brahms Clarinet Quintet with David Shifrin, a recital in Peter Serkin’s Haydn Project series with Peter Serkin and Todd Philips, and a solo performance of the Walton Cello Concerto with Leon Botstein and The Orchestra Now.
John received his master’s degree at Rice University studying with Desmond Hoebig and his bachelor’s degree studying with Peter Wiley at the Bard College Conservatory. While at Bard, he also completed a bachelor’s degree in Computer Science. When he’s not practicing or performing, John is usually being used as furniture by his enormous cat Angus.
IVAN PETRUZZIELLO clarinet
Italian clarinetist Ivan Petruzziello currently serves as assistant principal clarinetist of the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra and principal clarinetist of the Corpus Christi Symphony. Previously, he served as principal clarinetist of the Cali Philharmonic and Valle Symphony in Colombia.
As a guest, Ivan has performed with orchestras around the world, including the Orchestra Internazionale d’Italia, Latina Philharmonia, Orquesta Filarmonica Nacional de Cuba, Orquesta Filarmónica de Bogotá, and Orquesta Clásica of Colombia. In North America, he has performed with the Irving, Plano, Las Colinas, San Angelo, and Victoria Symphony Orchestras, among others.
Festival appearances include those with the Sinfonietta di Roma, Euromediterraneo Festival, Tiroler Festspiele, Orquesta Sinfónica de Holguín, and Orchestra Nuova Amadeus. Ivan is a teaching artist in the B-Sharp Music Program. Previously, he was on faculty in several institutions in Colombia, including the Universidad Central, Universidad del Valle, Universidad EAFIT, and the Antonio María Valencia Conservatory. He has presented masterclasses in Colombia, Cuba, Italy, Panama, Perú, and the United States. Ivan earned a Bachelor of Music in Clarinet Performance under the tutelage of Francesco Belli, a Master of Music in Chamber Music and Artist Diploma Certificate from Texas Christian University. He resides in Fort Worth with his wife, cellist Laura Ospina, and their children Tomas and Olivia. Ivan is a Yamaha performing artist.
WILLIAM CLAY bass
Originally from Colorado, William Clay has held the position of principal double bass of the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra since 1995. Before arriving in North Texas, he was principal bass of La Orquesta Sinfónica de Castilla y León (Spain) and the New World Symphony.
An active chamber musician, he has performed with a variety of North Texas ensembles including Spectrum Chamber Music Society, Mount Vernon Music, and Chamber Music Society of Fort Worth.
He has performed professionally with the Oregon, Houston, and Dallas Symphonies. He has also performed with many music festivals, including Music in the Mountains, Crested Butte Music Festival, and the Colorado Music Festival.
ERICA VERNICE SIMMONS soprano
Dr. Erica Vernice Simmons, lyric soprano, is an adjunct professor of voice (TCC) and a studio artist with Fort Worth Opera. She was a McNair Scholar and a former teaching fellow at the University of North Texas. She is currently enrolled in the Performing Arts Medicine Association’s (PAMA) course for Performing Arts Medical Certification in Vocal Health. Dr. Simmons’ past guest lectures/ presentations include: Black Heritage Recital at the Texoma Artist Series Conference (NATS 2020), Black Repertoire Guest Lecture (Arkansas State University 2020), Art Song and Aria Prep Guest Lecture (Louisiana Tech University 2020), Vocal Health and Anatomy (Tarrant County College 2019), and Voice Science and Pedagogy UNT (Vocal Arts Society 2018).
Artistically, The Dallas Morning News’ review of her title role in the 2021 world premiere of A Lily Among Thorns in the Winspear Opera House with Das Blümlein Project described her “supply shaping lines and spinning out high notes with a beautiful silvery tone…with a full-bodied low register.” She has performed in Spoleto, Italy (CCM Spoleto Festival); Graz, Austria (AIMS); in Porgy and Bess (2019) with the Fort Worth Opera; and various other operas across the United States. She was a first-place winner in the Memphis Beethoven Club 2017 Young Artists Competition and will be making her directing and assistant directing debuts for Fort Worth Opera’s 2022–2023 season. She’s been featured as a soloist with the Memphis Symphony Chorus. Additionally, students of Dr. Simmons have gone on to receive vocal scholarships at several distinguished universities and superior ratings in solo and ensemble.
Images (details): William Merritt Chase (1849–1916), Idle Hours, ca. 1894, oil on canvas, Amon Carter Museum of American Art, Fort Worth, Texas, 1982.1; Morton Livingston Schamberg (1881–1918), Figure, 1913, oil on canvas, Amon Carter Museum of American Art, Fort Worth, Texas, 1984.16; William M. Harnett (1848–1892), Attention, Company!, 1878, oil on canvas, Amon Carter Museum of American Art, Fort Worth, Texas, 1970.230
BUDDY BRAY host
Shields-Collins “Buddy” Bray has been artistic consultant for the Cliburn since 2003. Maintaining his longstanding commitment to new music, he serves as host and pianist for Cliburn at the Modern, bringing such living American composers as William Bolcom, John Corigliano, Ricky Ian Gordon, Jennifer Higdon, Jake Heggie, Kevin Puts, Ned Rorem, and Ben Moore to Fort Worth. With music educator John Feierabend, Buddy created the Cliburn in the Classroom curriculum for second-, third-, and fourth-graders; now, after almost two decades of serving as writer, narrator, host, and sometimes-pianist at these uniquely interactive programs, he continues to be heavily involved in an advisory role.
A skilled commentator and interviewer, Buddy hosted the large-scale webcast of the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition in June 2022, as he did for recent Junior (2019) and Amateur (2016) Competitions. He also serves as host and artistic consultant for the Cliburn’s digital series, Cliburn Masterpiece and Cliburn Kids. See page 21 for more information on these series.
Buddy has been principal keyboardist of the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra since 1986, and has hosted the orchestra’s pre-concert discussion series Symphonic Insights since 1993. He has performed many times as soloist with orchestra, most recently in Gershwin’s RhapsodyinBlue , a work with which he has had a long association. He has also appeared as soloist with the Dallas and Jacksonville Symphony Orchestras, the Buffalo Philharmonic, the Kennedy Center Opera Orchestra, and in Miguel Harth-Bedoya’s “The Passion of the Tango” with the Los Angeles Philharmonic at the Hollywood Bowl.
Buddy was born in Mississippi and grew up in northeastern Louisiana. He studied there with Donald Cornell, and later with Steven De Groote at Arizona State University and TCU.
CLIBURN YOUTH ARTS EDUCATION & OUTREACH SPONSORS
A special thank you those who supported our programming for young people: Alcon Foundation Carl B. and Florence E. King Foundation Fash Foundation
Frances C. and William P. Smallwood Foundation
Lowe Foundation Nesha and George Morey* R4 Foundation Scot and Melissa Hollmann Foundation Endowment of the Arkansas Community Foundation
The DuBose Family Foundation
Texas Commission on the Arts
Piano transportation supported by The Carolyn and Randall Hudson Cliburn in the Classroom Traveling Piano Endowment Fund. Cliburn in the Community performances are presented by The Stayton at Museum Way.
Funds
Kholodenko exudes a sense of excitement that comes straight out of his personality. Pianist and composer sounded as one, the performance closer to an experience of absolute improvisation than one will ever find in the classical repertoire.
– New York Classical Review
Photo credit: Ira PolyarnayaVADYM KHOLODENKO
PIANO
Thursday, November 10, 2022 I 7:30 p.m. Kimbell Art Museum
PROKOFIEV Four Pieces, op. 32 Danza I Menuetto I Gavotte I Valse
SCHUBERT Sonata in E-flat Major, D. 568 Allegro moderato Andante molto Menuetto: Allegretto Allegro moderato
intermission
PROKOFIEV Things in Themselves, op. 45 “A” I “B”
Sonata No. 6 in A Major, op. 82 Allegro moderato Allegretto Tempo di valzer lentissimo Vivace
Friday, November 11, 2022 I 8:00 p.m. The Post at River East
PROKOFIEV Four Pieces, op. 32 Danza I Menuetto I Gavotte I Valse
SCHUBERT Drei Klavierstücke, D. 946 Allegro assai I Allegretto I Allegro
ADES Traced Overhead
VINE Piano Sonata No. 1
Vadym Kholodenko appears by arrangement with Arts Management Group. Steinway & Sons is the official piano of the Cliburn. Support provided by the Ann Frasher Hudson Performance Piano Endowment Fund. Please silence all electronic devices. No recording is allowed.
Ukrainian pianist Vadym Kholodenko has built a reputation as one of the most musically dynamic and technically gifted pianists of his generation, with a depth of sound, exceptional refinement of expression, and consummate virtuosity. Winner of the 2013 Cliburn Competition, he captivated audiences and critics alike, with the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra immediately appointing him their first Artist in Partnership for a period of three years. His latest residency took him to the SWR Symphonieorchester (Germany), with which he performed Fauré, Brahms, Rachmaninov, and Beethoven last season.
His international career has brought him to orchestras in Europe, the United States, and Japan, including the Philadelphia Orchestra, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Staatskapelle Weimar, BBC Symphony, Orchestra Sinfonica Nazionale della RAI, Japan Philharmonic, Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony, and Sydney Symphony Orchestra. He has worked with conductors such as Vladimir Fedoseyev, Teodor Currentzis, Kirill
Karabits, Louis Langrée, Andrey Boreyko, Christian Măcelaru, Pinchas Zukerman, Krzysztof Urbanski, Yuri Bashmet, Thomas Søndergård, Ion Marin, Valery Gergiev, Dmitry Slobodeniuk, Lionel Bringuier, and Kazuki Yamada, in repertoire including concertos by Brahms, Beethoven, Bartók, Scriabin, Rachmaninov, and Busoni.
Current concerto engagements include performances with the Danish National Symphony, Lahti Symphony, Orquestra Sinfónica do Porto Casa da Musica (Busoni), Royal Scottish National Orchestra, BBC National Orchestra of Wales, and a tour with Rotterdam Sinfonia, including a performance at the Concertgebouw. Other recent engagements have seen Vadym perform with the Cincinnati Symphony, Atlanta Symphony, Indianapolis Symphony, BBC Scottish Symphony, RTE National Orchestra of Ireland, Janacek Philharmonic, Filarmonica Toscanini, Bournemouth Symphony, Orchestre National Bordeaux Aquitaine, Orchestre Philharmonique de Luxembourg, Norwegian Radio Orchestra, Copenhagen Philharmonic, Prague Symphony Orchestra, Barcelona Symphony, RTVE Symphony Orchestra, Orquesta Nacional de España, and the NCPA Orchestra in Beijing.
As a recitalist, Vadym has performed throughout the United States, including in New York, Washington, and Boston, and at the Aspen Music Festival. Appearances in Europe and Asia include the Vienna Konzerthaus, Wigmore Hall, LSO St Luke’s, and Liszt Academy Budapest, as well as venues across Japan and in Paris, Moscow, Bilbao, Brussels, Lucerne, Beijing, and Singapore. Festival performances include the SWR Schwetzinger Festspiele, La Roque d’Anthéron, and Chopin Festival in Warsaw.
Vadym’s recordings for harmonia mundi include the Grieg Piano Concerto and SaintSaëns Piano Concerto No. 2, which was awarded Editor’s Choice in Gramophone as “a truly outstanding recording,” and the complete cycle of Prokofiev Piano Concertos. His disc of solo works by Scriabin received a Diapason d’Or de l’année, and last season he released two further solo discs of works by Prokofiev and Tchaikovsky. Future plans include works by Chopin and Godowsky, and Rzewski’s “The People United Will Never Be Defeated!” for the Quartz label.
Vadym Kholodenko was born in Kyiv from Israeli heritage and gave his first concerts at the age of 13 in the United States, China, Hungary, and Croatia. He studied at the Moscow State Conservatoire under Professor Vera Gornostaeva.
Four Pieces, op. 32
Sergei Prokofiev (1891–1953)
Sergei Prokofiev was born in 1891 in Sontsivka, a part of the Russian empire and now in the Donetsk region of Ukraine. (650 kilometers and 95 years away, Vadym Kholodenko would be born in Kyiv.) Prokofiev’s beginning was modest and rural, but his mother had studied piano seriously, and she spotted the musical gift in her son early on. She made sure he had the finest instruction available—not an easy thing where they were living—and by 1904, she had enrolled him at the St. Petersburg Conservatory, where he studied harmony with Anatoly Lyadov and piano with the legendary Anna Yesipova.
Prokofiev had a stubborn streak that interfered with his composition studies, but he became a brilliant pianist under Yesipova’s guidance, and much of his early success was due to his keyboard prowess. After the completion of his schooling, he travelled to London and there met the ballet impresario Serge Diaghilev, who saw in Prokofiev all the makings of a fine composer for dance. If Prokofiev’s early efforts at composing ballets did not meet the highest standard, at least Diaghilev had planted a seed and provided direction for a young man of talent.
The young Prokofiev was beset with other concerns as well: World War I made his future difficult to plan, and the February and October Revolutions of 1917 made him anxious about remaining in Russia. At some length, he decided to try his luck in the United States, arriving in San Francisco in the late summer of 1918.
Against all this uncertainty, Prokofiev found both time and reason to compose: his Violin Concerto No. 1, op. 19 stems from this period, as does his Symphony No. 1, op. 25. This first symphony, nicknamed the “Classical” symphony by Prokofiev himself, finds the young composer pouring new wine into old wineskins: he took an orchestra of the size Mozart and Haydn knew, and wrote for it in the same forms they used, only with more piquant harmony and rhythm.
The same operations can be observed in his Four Pieces for Piano, op. 32, where he finds inspiration in traditional dance forms: a minuet, gavotte, and waltz are prefaced by a movement simply called “dance,” and all are assembled into a suite, much in the way J.S. Bach had done in his many suites for solo keyboard.
Writing in older dance forms was the perfect fit for the young Prokofiev. Such stylistic modeling reinforced a creative impulse that had been affirmed already by Diaghilev, and allowed him to overlay familiar dances with his singular approach to harmony, and his quirky, sardonic sense of rhythm.
Sonata in E-flat Major, D. 568
Franz Schubert (1797–1828)
Franz Schubert was not immune to the charm and possibility of dance, either. He was drawn particularly to the waltz form, and Prokofiev cobbled together a string of Schubert waltzes in 1920 for performance as a concert suite. But whether a work danced or not was not Schubert’s imperative; everything he wrote had to sing, no matter the form or instrumentation.
By 1817, the 20-year-old Schubert had met the prominent baritone Johann Michael Vogl, and it was an important encounter for him. Not only did the presence of Vogl spur Schubert to create some of his finest lieder—65 songs in 1817 alone—but the association gave Schubert and his music a boost in busy, competitive Vienna.
Schubert also spent 1817 in a continuing exploration of the piano sonata, producing a masterful Sonata in A Minor, D. 537, and sonatas in then-exotic keys like F-sharp minor and D-flat major. His unfinished D-flat Major Sonata, D. 567, written in June of 1817, forms the source material for the Sonata in E-flat Major, D. 568 that figures in tonight’s program.
Anything can happen when a composer revisits previously abandoned material, but the result in this case is entirely salutary. In the D-flat iteration, Schubert left a complete first movement, a complete second movement in the enharmonically related key of C-sharp minor (D♭=C#), and most of the final movement. In this state, the piece lay dormant for several years.
Schubert didn’t revisit the material until around 1826, by which time he had composed some of his greatest music, like his song cycle Die schöne Mullerin and his splendid Octet in F Major, D. 803. His health was also precarious by 1826, making creative work all the more urgent. But the revision of this sonata seems to have been untroubled; he simply lifted the key of the first movement by a whole step. He also changed the relationship between the first and second movements: in the earlier iteration, the key shift had been major to minor, lighter to darker. That’s true also in the revision, but now the key relationship is different—the movement centers not on E-flat, but on G.
Schubert crafted a new minuet and trio as a bridge to the genial rondo finale, and he fleshed out that finale in a logical way from his lower-key iteration those nine years before. The effect of the whole is intimate and lyrical, with an ineffable nostalgia. A song is never very far away.
Things in Themselves, op. 45
Sergei Prokofiev (1891–1953)
In the mid-1920s, Prokofiev became interested in Christian Science, then a fairly new religious practice that had been established by Mary Baker Eddy of Massachusetts. Prokofiev was to study its tenets for the rest of his life, being attracted not only to its views about physical healing, but also to its ideas about the illusory nature of the material world.
What are things, anyway, if we’re not around to observe and name them? Immanuel Kant had grappled with this question almost a century before in his Prolegomena to Any Future Metaphysics:
And we indeed, rightly considering objects of sense as mere appearances, confess thereby that they are based upon a thing in itself, though we know not this thing in itself, but only know its appearance.
All of that is interesting as a thought experiment, but Prokofiev, newly fired by Kant and by Mary Baker Eddy, was willing to ask it as a musical question in his Choses en soi, op. 45, which he wrote in 1928, during a period when he (and his family, by then) lived in Paris.
They are experiments themselves, in a way. Prokofiev was trying to determine just how much music could be wrung from a few notes, from just the germ of an idea. It’s fascinating, in each of these two pieces, to try and trace the initial idea across the span of the whole. (Each piece lasts about 6 minutes.)
In adopting the tenets of Christian Science, Prokofiev was trying also to rid himself of excess in his music. He was trying to find the pure idea, the essence. This was an approach that would serve him well both in his remaining few years in France, and when he returned with his family to the (by then) Soviet Union in 1936.
Sonata No. 6 in A Major, op. 82
Sergei Prokofiev (1891–1953)
Until his move to Moscow in 1936, Prokofiev had earned his living largely as a performer. He was a brilliant pianist, and that career had yielded steady work and sufficient income; it didn’t square, however, with the image that Prokofiev had nurtured about himself: he was a composer first, then a pianist.
A commission from the Kirov Theatre for an evening-length ballet helped to affirm that self-image, and to lure him back from Paris for good. The move agreed with him creatively: he produced not only his promised ballet for the Kirov (Romeo and Juliet, op. 64), but Peter and the Wolf, music for Eisenstein’s film Alexander Nevsky, and several made-to-order works like a sprawling Cantata for the 20th Anniversary of the October Revolution.
Implicit in the steady flow of public-facing projects was the understanding that, in both his work and his public life, he would toe the Soviet line. All Soviet artists were subject to constant evaluation in this regard, and all were expected to produce work that not only affirmed the Soviet idea, but spoke directly to the people. All were to work in a Socialist Realism vein, where accessibility, simplicity, and clarity were uppermost. All were to avoid even a hint of Formalism, whose telltale signs were sophistication, inscrutability, and experimentation.
In this stifling atmosphere, and the approaching storm clouds of war, Prokofiev started sketching three piano sonatas in 1939. Conceived for smaller spaces and only one performer, Prokofiev perhaps felt freer to encode his authentic feelings about Soviet life and the horrors of war. Certainly he could challenge himself as a composer, much as he had in Choses en soi from 11 years before.
The first of these three works (called, in hindsight, his “War” Sonatas) to be finished and premiered was his Sonata No. 6 in A Major, op. 82. Prokofiev himself was the pianist at its first public hearing, which took place in Warsaw in 1940. The work has found a wide public right up to the present and has been championed by many virtuoso pianists. (It was a staple of Van Cliburn’s recital repertoire, and he made a memorable recording of it for RCA in 1971.)
The work itself is a sprawling, four-movement canvas catapulted into motion by its opening gesture: a short, militant rhythmic figure is announced at once, accompanied by an insistent, harmonically ambiguous left hand. These building blocks are simple, but they are also rich. They generate the entire first movement, and they recur across the span of the sonata.
As we saw earlier in tonight’s program, Prokofiev found great success in using dance forms as templates for his piano pieces. The middle two movements of the Sixth Sonata are testaments to this, as well: the second movement is a quick march, but not without drama and conflict, and the third a nostalgic waltz invested with a certain heaviness. The final movement, like the first, establishes its bona-fides right away. A champing-at-the-bit rhythmic figure whips up a frenetic atmosphere, then calms down to recall the beginning of the sonata more wistfully, then returns to end the sonata in an explosion of sound and virtuosity.
JACQUELINE COPELAND
volunteer cliburn calligrapher since 2017
“Since I was a little girl, I have loved not only playing the piano but also listening to its beautiful music. Growing up in Fort Worth, I knew about the Cliburn Competition and the very talented man himself, but had never attended a concert. When I joined The Junior League of Fort Worth, I finally had a chance to be a part of the Cliburn through volunteering! Starting in 2017, I had the opportunity to join something I love with something I admire and jumped at the chance!
Being the awards calligrapher for the Cliburn the past five years is an honor and a role I continuously look forward to. Having the privilege to solidify the achievements of these world-class pianists with live-calligraphy has been a high point of my career. I always look forward to the buzz and excitement that encircles the final day of competition, in addition to being behind the scenes in the Green Room, eagerly awaiting the jury-selected winners and celebrating them privately while the ink dries before the world congratulates them on a magnificent honor.”
JOIN US IN SALUTING TWO OF THE MORE THAN 600 ACTIVE VOLUNTEERS WHO GIVE OF THEIR TIME, RESOURCES, AND EXPERTISE TO FORM THE BACKBONE OF THE CLIBURN.
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KRISTY ODOMvolunteer cliburn competition facilities chairman (and more!) since 2009
“Back in 2009, I said yes to a volunteer opportunity like none other. It was something I had no experience with, but I was excited to be behind the scenes, learning something new and being a part of something so special. There was simply a listing for one individual needed to help with ‘Front of House/Back of House’ (I had no idea what that was, and apparently it hadn’t attracted the attention that other more glamorous volunteer roles had garnered… ‘I’ll do it!’). The Cliburn has been a lovely adventure ever since. As Core Chairman over facilities, I procure/rent items needed by the staff to execute a successful competition; everything from table cloths and chairs to podiums and sofas.
I have been blessed to serve our community in many capacities over the years, but there is something so special about volunteering for the Cliburn. They empower you, value your time and talent, and are whole-heartedly grateful for your presence and support. My roles have diversified to include various roles within each competition, ranging from competitor lounge chair for the Junior, host family liaison, and even host to the conductor. If the opportunity comes your way, say ‘yes!’ You won’t regret it or the new found family you’ll have in the Cliburn.”
The Board of Directors gratefully acknowledges the following donors for perpetuating the mission of the Cliburn by making an endowment gift.
OUTSTANDING LEADERSHIP
Anne T. & Robert M. Bass
Nancy Lee & Perry R. Bassd
Sue & John Allen Chalk, Sr. Kim & Glenn Darden
Charron Denker & Peter Denkerd
Ann Frasher Hudson & Edward Hudsond
LEADERSHIP
Anonymous
1995 Branch Irrevocable Trust
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Amon G. Carter Foundation
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Shirley & Charles Antond
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Brown Foundation, Inc.
Rildia Bee O’Bryan Cliburnd Van Cliburnd
Carroll W. Collinsd Whitfield J. Collinsd Barbara A. & Ralph F. Cox
Anonymous
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Jack L. Grigsbyd
Carolyn & Randall Hudson Marsha & John Kleinheinz Mary Virginia Foncannon Trust
Nesha & George Morey Rosalyn G. Rosenthal & Manny Rosenthald
Shirley and William S. McIntyre Foundation
Crystelle Waggoner Charitable Trust
Dr. Scott Ellis Cutler
Electra Carlin Estate
Ernest Allen, Jr. Estate
Floye Dunning Estate
Beth & Randy Gideon
Gordon William Smith Estate
Sally & Jeff King
Louise T. Canafax Estate
Marie Stirner Estate
Martina Navratilova Children’s Youth Foundation
Jacques Marquis
Greg McCoy
Raymond E. Buck Foundation
William Y. Harveyd
Linda Reimers Mixsond
Lucille Moudyd
Olive Edrington Pillsbury Estate
Dan G. Polandd
Andrew Raeburnd
Jean Roach & John Roachd
Richard Rodzinski
Dr. and Mrs. Tom Rogers, Jr.
CLIBURN LEGACY SOCIETY
The Frill Foundation
The Horchow Family
The Hudson Family
The Meadows Foundation
Anna Belle P. Thomasd
Carla & Kelly Thompson
Shirley & Wes Turner Mary D. & F. Howard Walshd Robert Woodd
Sid Richardson Memorial Fund
Patricia A. Steffen
Stripling & Cox (Dunlap Company)
The Julie and Ben Rogers Foundation
Rice M. Tilley, Jr.d
Susan B. Tilleyd
Union Pacific Corporation / Union Pacific Foundation
Van Cliburn International Piano Competition Japan Committee Mary C. Wysongd
Terri and Greg Sexton
John M. Stevensond
Jerry and James Taylor
The Arch and Stella Rowan Foundation
The Louis and Madlyn Barnett Trust
Hugh L. Watsond Helen Wilson
Legacy gifts ensure that the performance and appreciation of classical music will continue for generations to come.
Anonymous
Connie Beck
William Joseph Bryan
Barbara J. Clarkin
M. Thomas Collier
Gail & Laurence S. Cooke
Jorge Covarrubias-Robles
Kathie A. Cummins
Dennis Dalton
Juana-Rosa Daniell & Ron Danielld
Paul DesRochers
Gail Aronoff Granek
Kristina & Herndon S. Hasty
Pamela & Michael Henry Rebecca R. Henson
Sandy & Bill Kincaid
Mollie L. Lasater
Lauri Lawrence
Betty Looney
Jennifer & Terry Readdick
Richard Rodzinski
Gerald E. Thiel Cynthia E. Young
If you have included or would like to include the Cliburn in your will or estate plans, please call 817.738.6536.
The Cliburn Board of Directors acknowledges with deep gratitude contributions received for the Cliburn and the Van Cliburn Trust between July 1, 2021, and June 30, 2022. Gratitude is also extended to those donors giving less than $100 not listed below.
$500,000 and Above Sid W. Richardson Foundation
$100,000–$499,999
Anonymous
Amon G. Carter Foundation
Sue and John Allen Chalk, Sr.
Mr. and Mrs. E. Randall Hudson III
Mr. and Mrs. John David Moritz
The Hudson Family Steinway & Sons William and Catherine Bryce Memorial Fund
$50,000–$99,999
Anonymous
Alice L. Walton Foundation
Ann L. & Carol Green Rhodes Charitable Trust
Arts Fort Worth BNSF Foundation TX
Sally and Jeff King Kleinheinz Family Foundation for the Arts and Education
Luther King Capital Management
Mercedes T. Bass Management Trust
Mr. and Mrs. David M. Porter
Mr. and Mrs. Kelly R. Thompson
The Rea Charitable Trust William E. Scott Foundation
$25,000–$49,999
Hyatt Bass
Ramona and Lee Bass
C. L. Rowan Charitable & Educational Fund, Inc. Carl B. and Florence E. King Foundation
Kim and Glenn Darden Fort Worth Promotion and Development Fund
Jill and Charles Fischer Foundation
Gaylord and Bradley Lummis / The Frill Foundation
Mary Potishman Lard Trust
Meta Alice Keith Bratten Donor Advised Fund at the North Texas Community Foundation
Mollie and Garland Lasater Charitable Fund at the North Texas Community Foundation
Rosenthal 1997 Charitable Lead Annuity Trust
Tracy and John Sellers
Sewell Automotive Companies
T. J. Brown & C. A. Lupton Foundation, Inc.
Texas Commission on the Arts
The Deena Jo HeideDiesslin Foundation
The Garvey Texas Foundation, Inc. The Ryan Foundation Vantage Bank Texas
$10,000–$24,999
Anonymous
Lydia and William Addy Alcon Foundation
Amegy Bank BDO Wealth
Connie Beck and Frank Tilley
Cornelia Blake / James R. and Cornelia C. Blake Foundation
Mr. and Mrs. Jack Blanton, Jr. / Scurlock Foundation
Steve Brauer
Central Market HEB
Craig Christopher Family Fund
Dr. and Mrs. Atlee M. Cunningham, Jr. Juana-Rosa Daniell Carol and Jim Dunaway / Winn - Dunaway Family Foundation Fort Worth Tourism Public Improvement District Corporation Kara and Fuller French / The Gillian S. Fuller Foundation, Inc. Mr. and Mrs. John C. Goff
Nancy L. Hallman / Qurumbli Fund / Fidelity Charitable Higginbotham
Jackson Walker LLP Constance Langston Lowe Foundation
Martha V. Leonard Fund at the North Texas Community Foundation
Gregory L. McCoy Nesha and George Morey
Gail W. Rawl
Thomas L. Smith
Patricia A. Steffen
The Junior League of Fort Worth, Inc.
$5,000–$9,999
Anonymous
Mr. and Mrs. Neils Agather
Ardon and Iris Moore Foundation
Marianne Auld and Jimmy Coury Black Mountain Oil & Gas LLC
Capital One, N.A. Colonial Savings Community Impact Fund at North Texas Community Foundation
Dauntless Charitable Fund / Fidelity Charitable
Mitzi and Bill Davis
Dr. and Mrs. Craig Dearden Fifth Avenue Foundation
Frances C. and William P. Smallwood Foundation
Marcia French / William M. Fuller Foundation Eugenie Guynn Rebecca and Reese Hillard
JPMorgan Chase & Company
Mr. and Mrs. Dee J. Kelly, Jr. Ms. Mary Elizabeth Lattimore Lauri Lawrence
M. Gale & Associates, LLC
Matthew and Lisa Rose Foundation
Jacques Marquis
Mr. and Mrs. Bobby Mays
Berlene T. and Jarrell R. Milburn
Mr. and Mrs. Richard W. Moncrief
Anton Nel
Nicholas and Louella Martin Charitable Fund at the North Texas Community Foundation
Northern Trust Laura and Michael O’Brien
Pamela Mia Paul Paun and Magdaline Peters
Pinnacle Bank Texas PlainsCapital Bank
Sara and Peter Sterling Family Fund / Fidelity Charitable
Scot and Melissa Hollmann Foundation Endowment of the Arkansas Community Foundation Simmons Bank
Elaine and Terry Small / The Terrell and Patsy Small Family Foundation
Janny and Warren Strickland / Schwab Charitable
Texas Bluebonnet Ridge UMB Bank
Charles W. White Natalie A. Wilkins
Amy and Charles Donovan Williamson Helen and Gene W. Willingham
$2,500–$4,999
Anonymous
Mr. Kenneth L. Barr Mr. and Mrs. Harry E. Bartel
Mr. and Mrs. Brad Brewster Paula and Bob Brockway Robin and Gantt Bumstead Wendy and Michael Collini Gunhild Corbett / Corbett Companies Kathie Cummins and Russ Wohlers
Mr. and Mrs. Richard Davidovich
Downtown Fort Worth, Inc.
Kay and George Duggan Cass Edwards III and Robbie Schroeder Fannie and Stephen Kahn Charitable Foundation
Timothy Hatcher
Heart of Neiman Marcus Fund of Communities Foundation of Texas
Kay and Bill Howell Mr. and Mrs. L. Russell Laughlin
Eddie M. Lesok Ms. Laura Lynch Margery Hodges
Berry Family Fund at the North Texas Community Foundation Michelle and Scott Marlow Anne S. and Henry B. Paup
Sally and Paul Prater / Schwab Charitable Mr. and Mrs. Frost Prioleau / Schwab Charitable
Ally and Davis Ravnaas Paige and Bob Russey / Lair Ranch Fund / Fidelity Charitable Catherine and Wallace Schmuck / Courtney & Courtney Properties Steinway Hall - North Texas / Houston
The DuBose Family Foundation
The Louis and Madlyn Barnett Unitrust The Roach Foundation, Inc.
Lee Ann and Steve Van Amburgh Molly and Pete Van Amburgh Suzy Williams
$1,000–$2,499 Anonymous Access Bank Texas Thomas H. Andrews II Sonya and Frank C. Bailey Mr. and Mrs. William E. Bailey Elizabeth and Lawrence Barron Susanna and Harper Bartolomei
Sarah and Gus Bates Nancy and Mark Bayouth
Ben E. Keith Foods Charles and Nelia Blanton / Blanton Family Fund Juli and Brandon Bledsoe
Mr. Bill Bond Bowdon Family Foundation / Bowden
Reserve Trust
Lori F. and Jonny S. Brumley
Susan and Stephen Butt Cardinal Financial Company
Brenda and Chad Cline Dr. Martin and Mrs. Michelle Conroy Mary Corley
Katie and James Day Ralph Duggins Dede Duson
Eddie Gwin Giving Account / Fidelity Charitable Dr. and Mrs. Chris Ewin Fash Foundation
Fort Worth Chamber of Commerce
FPS Fire Sprinkler José Luis Garcia-Corona Genesco Sports Enterprises, Inc. Ruthie and Dick Gessinger
Maestro and Mrs. John R. Giordano
Mr. and Mrs. James Goddard
Sharon Godwin
Mr. and Mrs. Theodore P. Gorski Jr. Ms. Gail Aronoff Granek Guido and Ruth Shumake Charitable Trust
Janie and Jim Harper Becky and Gregory Haskin Julie Hedden and Punch Shaw / Morgan Stanley Carol and Charles Herder Higginbotham Community Fund at the North Texas Community Foundation
Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Mack House, Jr. Sau and Don Hudecek
Brett K. Hyde
Mr. and Mrs. S. Keith Jackson, Jr. Olivia and Jeff Kearney Kathleen Keen Kimbell Art Foundation Morgan and Kelly Kostohryz
Gail and Bill Landreth Lezlee and Magnus Liljenberg
Deborah L. Lively Margaret Lowry and Andrew Bradshaw Francine R. Manilow Haddy and Edward Manuel
Mr. and Mrs. Clyde S. McCall, Jr. Marge and Nate McGrew
Ellen Messman
Mike Mullins
Elizabeth and Robert J. Myers Cameron and Huck Newberry
Kristi Newton
Paula and Scott Orr / Fidelity Charitable Lauren and Bryan D. Perkins
Beth and Steve Phillips Property Tax Partners
Conor and James Rainbolt
Ms. Karen W. Rainwater Ms. Vicki Ray and Dr. David Hendricks Mrs. Jane F. Rector Red Productions
Leslie Rentel
Beth Rivers and Woody Grossman
Barbara H. Roels Ms. Ellen Roeser Regina J. Rogers
Dr. and Mrs. Tom Rogers, Jr. Roxo Energy Barbara Servis Terri and Gregory Scott Sexton
Gretchen and Whit Smith
Susan and W. Barry Smith
Southside Bank
Mr. and Mrs. Charles L. Stephens III Vicky and David Stropes Medea and Jon Suder / MJR Foundation
Tadashi and Elaine Yamagata Foundation
Mr. and Mrs. Jerry and James Taylor Mary Katherine and Dean A. Tetirick Gerald Thiel Ginny and Joe Tigue Robert VanStryland Virginia Street Smith Charitable Fund at the North Texas Community Foundation
Walmart Janice and Gary G. Walsh Carole A. Watters Gwen Weiner Rinda and Jeff Wentworth
Mr. and Mrs. Joe H. White Sr. John H. Williams Lindy Pitcock Williams Tucker Willis Andrea and J.W. Wilson Sandi and Greg Wilson Yamagata Foundation Mr. and Mrs. Marshall Ralph Young, Sr.
$500–$999
Anonymous
Mr. and Mrs. James R. Anderson Aurora I. Camacho Arevalo and Michael L. Krupp Claire Barry Emma and Christopher Beavers
Peggy Beckham Stephen H. Berry Dr. and Mrs. Lee C. Bloemendal
Mr. and Mrs. Douglas K. Bratton Cyd E. and Trey Brown Linda and David Cameron Judith Carrier Anne and Orlando P. Carvalho Mrs. Donna Coldiron Annabelle Corboy and Michael Poteet^ Jane Oxsheer Coté and Robert Endter
Barbara A. and Ralph F. Cox / Fidelity Charitable Whitney and Todd Creel Claire Davidovich Marianne and Mark Davidovich
Dawn Marie and Richard Denne
Dr. Paul W. Dlabal / The Dlabal Foundation Liz and Rafael G. Garza Dr. Pat Ingle Gillis Felice Girouard Mr. and Mrs. Clay Grant Kelly and Paul W. Greenwell Shirley R. Gross Douglas Gullickson Gail Heaslet Marcee and Jon Henderson Dr. Kathleen L. Hickey
Joanne F Beck Giving Fund / Edward Jones Charitable
Ms. Dione Kennedy and Mr. Daniel Hagwood Shelly and Bud Kennedy Mason King Sarraine and Anthony Krause
Dr. Carol Leone and Mr. Regan Smith^ Barbara and Jay Lesok / Lesok Family Charitable Trust
Louise W. Kahn Endowment Fund of The Dallas Foundation L. R. Lumley
Dr. and Mrs. James R. McCarty Michal S. McColm Margaret and Stuart McDonald
Trina and Michael Mertz Molyneaux Charitable Foundation
Melissa and Stuart Murff Sarah and Philip Murrin Eunice Nian Susan Orton Kelsey and Gary Patterson
Clark R. Penas
Mr. and Mrs. John Pergande
Bonnie and Alan Petsche
Kelly and Brian Phillips
Pat and Dr. Jack Pierce John S. Pokrifcsak Michael S. Rankin
Patricia and Win Ryan Becky Butler Scott Catherine Scott / Benevity Community Impact Fund^^ Marisa Gibson Selkirk
Sheila and Jody Grant Fund of Communities Foundation of Texas Joslyn and Greg Shirey^ Lynda and Grady Shropshire
Carol and Terry Smith Bev and John Snyder / Nancy and John Snyder Fund at the North Texas Community Foundation Dr. Theodore S. Takata
The David M. Schwarz Architects Charitable Foundation, Inc. Sharon and Bob Timmons
Kit and Will Ulrich Tamás and Jutka Ungár Rhonda McNallen Venne Albertine and Ralph Votapek
Peggy Whitten Watson Shelby White and Patrick Sheridan
Linda and William Ball Robert C. Ballou Bank of Texas
Dr. and Mrs. Clifton H. Beasley Jr. Reva Jean Beck Claire and Joseph Berkes Viktors Berstis Shelley Bettis Mark Ernest Bivins Kimberly and Todd Blouin
Susan K. Blue, M.D. BOK Financial Emily and Jim Borovsky Sofi and Edward Boschini Shirley A. Branham Michelle and Tim Brookshire
Jan and Fred Brossart Susie and Lon Byars Vicki Cantwell
Ruth M. and Arthur G. Dean
Myra Decker Dr. John DeRuntz Drs. Rosemary and Jeffrey Gaston Detweiler^
Mary A. and Robert H. Dilworth Donald K. and Barbara F. Jones Charitable Gift Fund / Fidelity Charitable Trish and Menard Doswell
George Dowling Nancy S. Dunlap / Dunlap Family Fund / Fidelity Charitable Robert P. Dupree Carlotta and Walter Dwyer
Ellen Fujikawa
John Mann Gardner II
Donna Garrett Dana Gartner
The Hon. and Mrs. Preston Geren III
Thea Glicksman
Mrs. Pamela A. Gordon Mary Graham
Margaret S. Green
Melissa and Joe Greenhill^ Ms. Kelly L. Gross
John C. Guevara, M.D. Brenda Guilloud
Roy E. Guinnup
Mr. and Mrs. Larry Harbison
Margaret Harper Lynn G. Harris
Laura and Frederick Harrison
Anonymous
Amy and Alton Adkins Lorene Agather Suzanne Allan Joan Allison
Dr. and Mrs. Lloyd Howard Alterman Dennis L. Anderson
Julie and Chris Anderson
Dr. Amaryllis Arraut Mrs. Karen Marie Atwood
Mr. and Mrs. Kevin Avondet
Stephanie and Cody Baker Ann and Robert Ball
Carol F. Ray Marital Trust Mr. and Mrs. Richard Casper Dr. and Mrs. Jaime H. Castro Mrs. Annabelle Catterall Barbara Chatterjee Octavio Choy Mr. and Mrs. Lu Christ Barbara J. Clarkin
Patrick Coleman William J. Condon and Scott M. Yonker
Edwin and Diana Cooley Caroline and Jonathan Cranz
Roberta Crawford Emily Crockett
Jimmy Culp Richard Cunningham and David W. Baird Ms. Kyle Dahlem Paige Daniel Gregory T. Davis^ Mrs. Margo Dean
Paul D. Dykstra Valrie and David Eberstein
Mary Jane and Crawford H. Edwards
Peggy R. and Stephen M. Ehrlich Sarah and Mark C. Eidson
Ellen and Theodore Mack Donor Advised Fund / Fidelity Charitable
John Epstein
Jessica and Garett Essl Vivian Fang
Rita and Phillip C. Faudi Laura and Mark Fierer Jessica and Matt Fiesta Sara and Robert Fitzgerald
Dr. Josephine Fowler Susan Frear Dana Freese
Martha Fregia Mrs. Dianne M. Fried Mr. Douglas Frobese^ Martha Fry
Deborah and William Hartnett
Mr. and Mrs. Stefan Heinzelmann
Jay Hiemenz
Ruth Ann Hoffman
Libby and Brooks Hogg John Huddleston Isabelle Hulsey
Rae and Michael Hyatt Murray A. James Jean Berlowitz
Charitable Fund, a Donor Advised Fund of U.S. Charitable Gift Trust
Lisa and Russell Johnson
Shelby Johnson and Perry Ginsburg Dorlene Kaplan
Dr. and Mrs. Robert H. Kelly
Sharon Kerschen
Julie and Scott Kleberg Darleen Krahwinkel Anne Ladu
Regan and W. A. Landreth
Elizabeth L. Landy
O. H. Lanier
Dena Light and James Lathrop
Nicole M. LeBlanc
Maurice A. Lee Ms. Susan O. Leonard Marcia Levy and Mark Cannon
Courtney and Kerry Lewis
Dr. Christina Long and Mr. Herman Lo Barbara and Willie Lott / Benevity Community Impact Fund^^
Clare S. Mackey
Dmitrii Makarov Mr. and Mrs. John Charles Malone^ Mr. and Mrs. F. V. Manning
Jackie and Jay W. Martin Dr. Rebecca Edge Martin James Gray Matthews
Judy Mayo
Dr. M. Dwain McDonald Reagan and Matthew McLain
Liz and John McMullan Deborah Merritt Juliana Michie Carole Mikoryak
Lauren-Ashton and John Moncrief
Linda M. Monk Lisa and Ryan Moore Jo Ann and Marvin H. Mueller
Ms. Judy G. Needham
Dr. Patty W. Neilson Judy and Jim Nicklos Makio Nishida
Tony Oliver / Oliver Charitable Fund / Fidelity Charitable
Grainne and Clayton Owen / Benevity Community Impact Fund^^
Nan Paden
Nancy H. Palmer Nancy and David Parker Dr. and Mrs. Harris Franklin Pearson Adana Peloubet Betsy and George Pepper
Ms. Linda W. Perry Becky and Ed Pfeiffer Drs. Bill and Ruth Pitts Marianne E. Pohle
Ann A. Pope Stephanie Pounds Sue and Dane Pranke Mary Lou Pringle Patricia Purvis Shannon and Breck Ray Jenifer and Terry Readdick Dr. and Mrs. Larry E. Reaves Tamara and Dan Reese James E. and Cheryl A. Rider
Julia C. Roberts and Christopher D. Coppin Stella M. and James D. Robertson Dr. and Mrs. Robert T. Rossen
Susan Ruby Jude and Terry Ryan Joann and Wayne Schuricht^
Susan Scott David and Karen Seidler^ Mary Alice Chandler Selcer
Caryl Sherman-Gonzalez
Jonathan Sherwell Michael Shih Ann and Tom Shipp Katie and Hayne Shumate
Vivian and John Siao Richard Siegel
Jean Silva Ann and John Simms Sarah B. Sims Mr. and Mrs. William R. Sims
Martha Skinner Ellen and Paul Slezak Bradley Smith / Benevity Community Impact Fund^^
Emmet G. and Judith Oelfke Smith
Pamela Smith
Linda Starck-McLean Mr. Lias J. Steen Itske and Anthony Stern Suzanne Stricker Karen Strzelecki / Charities Aid Foundation of America^^
Janice and Horace Tabor
Sonya and Amar Tanna Nenetta and Steve Tatum
Lauren and C.B. Team Barbara Teng Aro Terrell Mairin and Kevin Terry The Albert Family Charitable Fund / Fidelity Charitable Michelle and Matt Tilley^ Cindy and Rey Tolentino James E. Vannice Jill and George Vassar Shana and Max Vordenbaum Mr. and Mrs. John E. Vroman
Sara and Chip Wagner Anna Jean and Richard Walsh
Richard Warner Mrs. Kimball S. Watson Chris Watson
Keri Cyr and Robert A. Weber, Jr. Hollace and Bruce Weiner Morgan and Thomas West
Linda S. Westerburg^ Susan and Jon Wilcox Shu Mei and Mark A. Wilgus
Laura and Neil Wilhelm Karen Williams June Wolff Phyllis Worrell Francis Wright Gwen Wynn Julie and Arthur Zobal
The Cliburn acknowledges with gratitude the matching gifts made by the following organizations: Allstate Abbott AT&T Google Microsoft Toyota
^ includes gifts made through North Texas Giving Day Communities Foundation of Texas
^^includes matching gifts
Donations of $100 or over have been made in the names of the following people between July 1, 2021, and June 30, 2022. We are grateful for all tribute gifts including those made under $100.
IN HONOR
Lisa and Michael Anderson
Lydia and William Addy
Connie Beck and Frank Tilley Emily Crockett
Alim Beisembayev
Mr. and Mrs. Larry Harbison
Buddy Bray
Ms. Kyle Dahlem
Ms. Gail Aronoff Granek
Stephanie Pounds Susan and Jon Wilcox
Anna Melinda Brock
Juliana Michie
Sue and John Allen Chalk Tamara and Dan Reese
Cliburn’s 60th Anniversary Courtney & Courtney Properties Sharon Godwin Barbara and Willie Lott
Kathy Cummins Carole A. Watters
Kim Darden Anonymous
Mitzi and Bill Davis Mike Mullins
Maggie Estes
Maestro and Mrs. John R. Giordano
Paige and Bob Russey / Lair Ranch Fund at Fidelity Charitable
Cami and John Goff
Mr. and Mrs. Lu Christ
Erin and Jeffrey Hendricks
Paige and Bob Russey / Lair Ranch Fund at Fidelity Charitable
Ruth Ann Hoffman
Deborah L. Lively
Kay Howell
Becky Butler Scott
Catherine Scott Kristi Newton
Paige and Bob Russey / Lair Ranch Fund at Fidelity Charitable
Jean & Gordon Kelly
Paige and Bob Russey / Lair Ranch Fund at Fidelity Charitable
Dr. Robert H. Kelly Anna Jean and Richard Walsh
Vadym Kholodenko
Linda M. Monk
Adelaide Leavens
Paige and Bob Russey / Lair Ranch Fund at Fidelity Charitable
Jacques Marquis
Amy and Alton Adkins
Paige and Bob Russey / Lair Ranch Fund at Fidelity Charitable
Priscilla and Joe Martin Mike Mullins
Anne-Marie McDermott Anonymous
Scott Mitchell
Heart of Neiman Marcus Fund at Communities Foundation of Texas
Whitney More Thomas L. Smith
Marianne Pohle Lisa and Jerry Feldman
Paige and Bob Russey / Lair Ranch Fund at Fidelity Charitable
Gail Rawl
Anonymous
Susie and Lon Byars
Liz and Rafael G. Garza Shelly and Bud Kennedy
Mr. and Mrs. Clyde S. McCall, Jr. Beth and Steve Phillips Nenetta and Steve Tatum Maggie Rumbelow Ellen Messman
Carla K. Thompson
Community Impact Fund at North Texas Community Foundation Mr. Lias J. Steen
Susan Tilley
Margery Hodges Berry Family Fund at the North Texas Community Foundation
Charles & Shirley Ueng Vivian Fang
Ralph Votapek Ann A. Pope
Jennifer Williamson
Winn - Dunaway Family Foundation
Jennifer and Philip Williamson
Susie and Lon Byars
Michelle and Scott Marlow Becky and Ed Pfeiffer Cindy and Rey Tolentino Shana and Max Vordenbaum
Philip Williamson’s Birthday Kay and Bill Howell
J.W. Wilson Chris Watson
IN MEMORY
Karen Barr
Connie Beck and Frank Tilley
Phillip Randle Bishop
Mr. and Mrs. William E. Bailey
Van Cliburn Regina J. Rogers
Esther and Will Courtney
Courtney & Courtney Properties
Sam Decker Myra Decker
Mary Jeanne Dyess
Dr. and Mrs. Clifton H. Beasley, Jr.
Mr. and Mrs. Jack Blanton, Jr. / Scurlock Foundation
Roberta Crawford
Paige Daniel
Mr. and Mrs. Richard Davidovich
Ms. Gail Aronoff Granek
Carol and Charles Herder
Mr. and Mrs. S. Keith Jackson, Jr.
Jackie and Jay W. Martin
Judy and Jim Nicklos
Mary Lou Pringle
Mr. and Mrs. Kelly R. Thompson
Mildred Fender
Mr. and Mrs. William E. Bailey
Mitzi and Bill Davis
Carol and Jim Dunaway Robert P. Dupree
Martha Fry Kay and Bill Howell
Isabelle Hulsey Murray A. James
Martha V. Leonard Fund at the North Texas Community Foundation
Ms. Ellen Roeser
Paige and Bob Russey / Lair Ranch Fund at Fidelity Charitable
Jude and Terry Ryan
Mr. and Mrs. Kelly R. Thompson
Betty Farris Gilmer
Mr. and Mrs. James R. Anderson
Carol Hamilton Jimmy Culp
Ed Hudson
Mr. and Mrs. Kelly R. Thompson
Martha Rowan Hyder
C. L. Rowan Charitable & Educational Fund, Inc.
Joan and Gordon Kelly
Paige and Bob Russey / Lair Ranch Fund at Fidelity Charitable
Ann Koonsman
Vicki Cantwell
Christel Laughlin
George Dowling Ms. Vicki Ray and Dr. David Hendricks James E. and Cheryl A. Rider Karen Williams
Mary Ann Nolen Lowrance John Mann Gardner II
Joseph Macchia
Dr. and Mrs. James R. McCarty
Real Marquis
Kimberly and Todd Blouin Kay and Bill Howell Marianne E. Pohle
Graciano Martinez Jimmy Culp
Bobbie Joan Mathews Jill and George Vassar
Ted Mayo
Margaret Lowry and Andrew Bradshaw Judy Mayo
Oliver & Martha Orton Susan Orton
Peg Pokrifcsak Patricia A. Steffen
Barbara and Bill Ross Paige and Bob Russey / Lair Ranch Fund at Fidelity Charitable
Vera and Cy Rowell Shirley A. Branham
Stephen Seleny
Julia C. Hedden and Punch Shaw / Morgan Stanley Gift Fund
Fern Stropes
Vicky and David Stropes
Thomas P. Sullivan Darleen Krahwinkel
Susan B. Tilley
Courtney & Courtney Properties Trish and Menard Doswell Mrs. Dianne M. Fried Ms. Susan O. Leonard
Arden Warner Richard Warner
Elaine Yamagata
Tadashi and Elaine Yamagata Foundation Yamagata Foundation
$75,000 + City of Fort Worth Texas Commission on the Arts Small Business Administration UnitedWay of Tarrant County
$25,000 - $74,999
Anonymous Fidelity Charitable John W. & M. Ann Mason David R. & Shelly Smith
$10,000 - $24,999
Fort Worth Promotion and Development Fund Frost Bank
Houston & Sheila Hill Meta Alice Keith Bratten Foundation The Ryan Foundation Sid W. Richardson Foundation Visit Fort Worth Virginia O’Donnell Charitable Trust
Arts Fort Worth extends its sincere appreciation to these generous donors for their generosity and support of the arts in our community.
$2,500 - $9,999
BNSF Railway Foundation Communities Foundation of Texas Fifth Avenue Foundation
Junior League of Fort Worth North Texas Community Foundation Shoot Smart Tarrant County The Pate Foundation
Virginia Street Smith Charitable Fundat the North Texas Community Foundation
$500 - $999
Cecile Montgomery Tom Harkrider Dione Kennedy & Daniel Hagwood Pam Presswood Laura Lumley Col. William Massad Dr. & Mrs. Bruce H. Weiner Mr. and Mrs. Bradford Kling
$1,000 - $2,499 Facebook Karen & Larry Anfin Kathleen Yacio Sargent L.O. “Buzz” and Ruth Brightbill Maddie & Larry Lesnick
Martha V. Leonard Fundat the North Texas Community Foundation Mr. & Mrs. Lary Milrany Mrs. Mercedes T. Bass Mrs. Rosalyn G. Rosenthal Ms. Peggy Meade-Cohen Pacheco Koch Rachel Guy Schwab Charitable TranSystems Corporation Visiting Angels & Dale Brock
Thank you for your dedication to the arts. Arts Fort Worth, formerly ‘The Arts Council of Fort Worth’ extends its gratitude to the many other contributors whom we are unable to list here due to space limitations. Please visit artsfortworth.org for a full list of donors who supported Arts Fort Worth between October 1, 2019 and August 4, 2021.
1300 Gendy Street | Fort Worth, TX 76107 | 817.738.1938 | artsfortworth.org