Cliburn Notes: 2013

CLIBURN NOTES 2 0 1 3

Fourteenth Van Cliburn International Piano Competition MAY 24 – JUNE 9, 2013

Begin

LET THE COMPETITION The Fourteenth Van Cliburn International Piano Competition comes to Fort Worth in May 2013. The Competition celebrates the discovery of the finest young pianists from around the world and is considered one of the preeminent music competitions!

THE facts

Three Rounds

• Van Cliburn International Piano Competition is held every four years in Fort Worth, Texas – the Olympics of piano competitions!

Preliminary Round: 30 competitors play two recitals

• The competition was established to continue the legacy of Van Cliburn.

Final Round: 6 competitors will play two concerti with the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra

• 2013 will be the FOURTEENTH Van Cliburn International Piano Competition.

• 1962 was the FIRST Van Cliburn International Piano Competition.

Semifinal Round: 12 competitors play another recital and play a recital with a string quartet

Top Prizes Gold Medal – $50,000

• 132 pianists were chosen to audition in live recitals.

Silver Medal – $20,000

• 5 jury members traveled across the world to hear live auditions.

Crystal Award – $20,000

• Audition sites: 1) Hong Kong 2) Moscow 3) Hannover 4) Milan 5) New York 6) Fort Worth

Concert Tours & Career Management for all winners

• 30 pianists were chosen to compete! All competitors are between the ages of 18-30 years old.

Three Finalists – $10,000 each CD recordings for top three winners

2013 details Dates: May 24–June 9, 2013 Venue: Bass Performance Hall

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Crossword Puzzle Words: Audition, Award, Bass Performance Hall, Competition, Concert, International, Jury, Legacy, Management, Preeminent

Who was van cliburn?

Van Cliburn devoted his life to sharing his love of classical music with people all over the world.

Winning the first Tchaikovsky International Piano Competition in Moscow at the height of the Cold War in 1958 made Van Cliburn a celebrity, which was unusual for an American concert pianist. Van Cliburn became a national hero.

He toured the world and sold millions of records. Van Cliburn used music to create an understanding between different societies and increased interest in classical music all over the world.

F. Year was: Finish filling the empty boxes with the correct year.

Use information below to calculate the correct year.

VAN CLIBURN RECEIVES HONORS Medal of Freedom July 2003: Van Cliburn receives the Medal of Freedom Award from President George W. Bush The Medal of Freedom is the highest civilian award in the United States. The medal was established in 1945 by President Truman to recognize notable service in World War II. In 1963, President Kennedy reintroduced the medal as an honor for distinguished civilian service in peacetime. The United States honored Van Cliburn for his contributions to the arts and to our nation with the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

G. Year was:

1958

E. Year was:

A. Age 0 – born in Shreveport, Louisiana B. Age 3 – first started to study the piano C. Age 6 – moved to Texas

D. Year was:

1946

D. Age 12 – won his first competition in Texas E. Age 17 – accepted to The Juilliard School F. Age 20 – played at Carnegie Hall in New York City G. Won first prize at the Tchaikovsky International Piano Competition in Russia C. Year was:

Order of Friendship September 2004: Russian President Vladimir Putin confers the Order of Friendship Honor on Van Cliburn

A. Year was:

1934

did you know?

Van Cliburn played for every American president from President Truman to President Obama.

Crossword Puzzle Words: Cold War, hero, societies, classical, Juilliard School, Carnegie Hall, civilian

The Order of Friendship was established December 17, 1972, in commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the USSR. The honor is awarded for distinguished service to the cause of strengthening friendship and cooperation between the socialist nations and peoples, and for significant contributions to the economic, socio-political, and cultural development of the former USSR and its republics.

Medal of Arts March 2011: Van Cliburn receives the National Medal of Arts from President Barack Obama The National Medal of Arts, established by Congress in 1984, is awarded by the President. It is the highest award given to artists and arts patrons by the United States Government.

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Photo by Ruth David. Courtesy of the National Endowment for the Arts

B. Year was:

The Piano how it all works The piano has 88 keys—36 black keys and 52 white keys.

When you push down a key, the hammer attached to that key goes up (in a grand piano) or forward (in an upright piano) to strike a string. The hammer is a round stick with a head on it (it looks something like a real hammer), and the head is covered with very dense wool felt.

When the string vibrates it makes a musical sound; the string is connected to a large soundboard that amplifies the sound much louder than the string could do by itself. When you let go of the key, a felt pad, called a damper, drops back onto the string and stops the sound. Most pianos have around 220 strings that vary in length from 6 to 80 inches. The longest strings have the lowest pitch (bass section), and the shortest strings have the highest pitch (treble section).

Pedals

Here’s how they work: Right pedal - The loud one. Also known as the “forte” or sustain pedal. This pedal raises the dampers. Dampers are the wedges of felt that press on the strings to stop the sound. This pedal keeps the dampers raised so the tone keeps sounding.

Left pedal - The soft one. A single piano note is normally created from two or three piano strings hit at the same time. When this pedal is used, it causes the hammer to shift slightly so that it hits only one or two strings, resulting in a softer sound.

Middle pedal - The “sostenuto,” is usually found only on grand pianos. This pedal makes it possible to sustain selected notes while the player’s hands are free to play other notes that fade normally.

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left pedal middle pedal right pedal

hammers and strings Soundboard Keys

Did you know?

Is the piano a string instrument or a percussion instrument?

The piano is really a “hybrid”–a combination of two types. It’s a string instrument, because the musical tones originate in the strings; and it’s also a percussion instrument, because the strings are set into vibration by being struck with hammers.

What types of pianos are there?

There are two basic types: Grand pianos have their strings and soundboard parallel to the floor.

Verticals (or Uprights) have their strings and soundboard turned up perpendicular to the floor. Both kinds come in different sizes and styles.

piano facts:

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88

220

Number of pedals on a piano Number of keys on the keyboard Number of strings in the piano

300 Number of years since the first piano was made

1,000

Average weight of a concert piano

12,000

Number of moving parts in a piano

quiz time 1. Q: How is the piano like a drum?

A: 2. Q: How is the piano like a guitar?

A: 3. Q: Who invented the first piano?

A: 4. Q: What are the two types of pianos?

A: 5. Q: How old is the piano?

A:

quiz answers: Check the answers on page 17.

The piano is an instrument found in all parts of the world. If you think about it, almost anywhere you look, there is a piano. People have them in their homes, at school, and at places of worship — and you can even find them in shopping malls. It is hard to imagine a time before the piano, yet they were only invented 300 years ago! The piano’s history starts with the discovery that a taut, vibrating string can produce sound, and dates back to prehistoric times. The first piano was owned by the Medici family in Florence, Italy. The piano was invented by Bartolomeo Cristofori around the year 1700, and the action of the piano keys was so ingeniously designed that some of its parts are still found in grand pianos today. The name “piano” is actually a shortened version of the Italian term pianoforte, meaning soft-loud, and referring to the fact that the pianoforte could produce sounds covering a much larger range than its predecessors, the harpsichord and clavichord.

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Crossword

Crossword Puzzle Words - Use the words found on the bottom of pages 2 and 3 to complete the puzzle.

across 2 Given to winners 5 Controls a business 10 A person noted for special achievement 13 Involving more than two nations 15 Location of Cliburn Competition 16 Non-military citizen 17 Group of judges

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1 Superior of others, the best 3 A music performance 4 Famous performance hall in New York City 6 A test of skill 7 School for the fine arts 8 A time of political hostility between countries 9 Members of communities 11 A trial performance to demonstrate skill 12 Traditional form of music 14 Something handed down to a successor

Word Search Find the following piano terms by looking up, down, and diagonally ... Are you ready? Then let’s go!

Piano

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Percussion

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Instrument

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Damper

Music

Pedal Key Black White Grand Upright String Pitch Note

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meet the 2013 cliburn competitors

Stats! learn all the Facts!

Name Age Languages Hobbies

Card Fronts – competitor’s unique information

Card Backs – competitor’s country You fill in the continent Continent:

united states of america

united states of america

get all the

TRACK THE PIANISTS AS THEY ADVANCE THROUGH EACH ROUND Semifinal Round

Final Round

Medalists

Announced May 30

Announced June 4

Announced June 9

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Which competitor has the same hobby as you?

List your favorite hobbies.

What languages do you speak?

What country would you like to visit?

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Why did you pick that country?

Sean Chen

20 Italian, English Sports, art, reading

24 English Composing, video games, sports

26 English Swimming, running, soccer

FRANCE

Sara Daneshpour

30 Russian, English Music, chess

Italy

china

Alexey Chernov

united states of america

Luca Buratto

24 Russian, English Movies, swimming, traveling, reading

russia

Nikita Bbrosimov

united states of america

italy

Russia

2013 cliburn competitors

Alessandro Deljavan

Fei-Fei Dong

Franรงois Dumont

26 Italian, English Football, chess, cooking

22 Chinese, English Movies, ping pong, traveling

27 French, English Music

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Continent:

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russia

italy

russia

Continent:

Continent:

Continent:

italy

china

france

Continent:

Continent:

united states of america

united states of america

Continent:

Continent:

italy

Ruoyu Huang

Giuseppe Greco

ukraine

united states of america

23 English Swimming, reading, cooking

russia

24 Chinese, English Music, cartoons

23 Italian, English Photography

Claire Huangci

26 English Yoga, swimming, ping pong

australia/UK

25 English Swimming, biking

26 Russian, English Movies, literature, traveling

Jayson Gillham

china

Lindsay Garritson

Yury Favorin

united states of america

russia

2013 cliburn competitors

Vadym Kholodenko

Nikolay Khozyainov

26 Russian, English Movies, history, philosophy

20 Russian, English Reading, opera

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Continent:

12 Continent:

Continent:

italy

china

australia/UK

russia

united states of america

Continent:

Continent: united states of america

ukraine

russia

Continent:

Continent:

Continent:

united states of america

24 English, Chinese Basketball, swimming, video games

Gustavo MirandaBernales 22 Spanish, English Reading, music, walking

ukraine

russia

30 English Reading, biking

21 Chinese, Russian, English Music, cooking, movies

italy

Alex McDonald

Steven Lin

Chile

24 Polish, English Hiking, traveling

Kuan-Ting Lin

united states of america

Marcin Koziak

taiwan

poland

2013 cliburn competitors

Nikita Mndoyants

Oleksandr Poliykov

Beatrice Rana

24 Russian, English Traveling, history, chess

25 English, Russian, Ukrainian Photography

20 Italian, English Reading, movies, swimming

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Continent:

14 Continent: Continent:

Continent:

united states of america

chile

poland

Taiwan

united states of america

Continent:

Russia

ukraine

Italy

Continent: Continent:

Continent:

Scipione Sangiovanni

Yekwon Sunwoo

25 Italian, English Literature, movies

24 English, Korean Discovering new foods

china

italy

19 Japanese, English Music, reading

Alessandro Taverna

Jie Yuan

Eric Zuber

29 Italian, English Literature

27 Chinese, English Soccer, movies, traveling

28 English Football, tennis, ping pong

united states of america

italy

japan

Tomoki Sakata

South korea

2013 cliburn competitors

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Continent:

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Japan

italy

Continent:

italy

Continent:

china

south korea united states of america

Continent:

Continent:

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Answer Page Crossword

Word Search

TIMELINE ANSWERS (from page 3)

QUIZ TIME ANSWERS (from page 5)

A. 1934 B. 1937 C. 1940 D. 1946

1) The strings are struck by hammers.

2) Music tones originate in the strings.

3) The first piano was invented by Bartolomeo Cristofori.

4) The two types of pianos are the grand piano and the upright piano.

5) The piano is 300 years old.

E. 1951 F. 1954 G. 1958

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Activity 2

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Draw a line to the location on the map for each country represented by a Cliburn Competitor.

Activity 1 Identify the continents by placing the number beside each question mark.

1. North America 2. South America 3. Australia 4. Europe 5. Asia 6. Africa 7. Antartica

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Australia Chile China France Italy Japan Poland Russia South Korea Taiwan Ukraine United Kingdom United States

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thank you Texas Women for the Arts | Texas Cultural Trust FOR SUPPORTING THE CLIBURN COMPETITION CHILDREN’S EDUCATION PROGRAMMING

Watch the Cliburn Competition Live at

www.cliburn.org May 24–June 9, 2013