14th Van Cliburn International Piano Competition

May 26, 2013 11:39 AM

Held once every four years, the 14th Van Cliburn International Piano Competition is being livecast. Running from May 24th to June 9th, performers — some of the best young pianists in the world — are currently in the preliminary round.
posted by Blazecock Pileon (11 comments total)

One of the things that's interesting about this particular competition is that there isn't always a winner. Sometimes the judges decide none of the competitors were good enough.
posted by Chocolate Pickle at 11:51 AM on May 26, 2013

Finally, streaming video of fine young pianists that won't get you on the FBI watch list.
posted by nathancaswell at 12:18 PM on May 26, 2013

thanks.. what a great idea to stream the competition.
posted by snaparapans at 12:23 PM on May 26, 2013

Brilliant, thanks for making this sunny afternoon!
posted by oneironaut at 1:02 PM on May 26, 2013

Somehow I read that as "once every 14 years" and imagined millions of pianists emerging from the ground like so many cicadas.
posted by emeiji at 5:39 PM on May 26, 2013

I'm probably just being computer illiterate, but are/will all the performances from each day still/be available to watch?
posted by polymodus at 8:24 PM on May 26, 2013

are/will all the performances from each day still/be available to watch?

Yes check the box of the day you want to listen to.. took me awhile to get it too..
posted by snaparapans at 9:24 PM on May 26, 2013 [1 favorite]

I've never known enough to understand what the judges are listening for as criteria. I enjoy quite, thinking, light touch style piano music and to my ear a lot of competition music focuses on fast, concussive finger technique. It's amazing ability but not as "listenable" as much as it is performance.... I'd be interested in understanding how they select the winner. Is that covered anywhere in a way a layman can understand?
posted by mightshould at 4:15 AM on May 27, 2013

I'd be interested in understanding how they select the winner.
In the end, I think that it boils down to the taste of the judges.
posted by snaparapans at 7:32 AM on May 27, 2013

I'd be interested in understanding how they select the winner. Is that covered anywhere in a way a layman can understand?

There are two Cliburn competitions, one for young pros (like this one) and the other for older (35+) amateurs. There's a documentary about the amateur competition called They Came To Play that has comments from the judges, and while I won't claim that the evaluation process is entirely identical, it was interesting to hear Olga Kern say that one way to get to the next round is to surprise the judge and make them want to hear more from the pianist.
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 5:43 PM on May 27, 2013

And the winner is.......

Vadym Kholodenko, 26, of Ukraine.
posted by snaparapans at 7:24 AM on June 11, 2013