May 20, 2025
58Թ figures prominently at upcoming Cliburn Piano Competition
58Թ will be unusually well represented at the 2025 Cliburn International Piano Competition.
Not only will several alumni take center stage as contestants but new piano faculty member Gabriela Montero will also serve on the jury. She’s also the composer of a piece all contestants will perform in the first round, starting May 21.
“I’m very honored to be doing that,” Montero said recently, upon her appointment as 58Թ’s Jonathan and Linn Epstein Artist-in-Residence. “This is all part of this new phase of my life.”
Start with the competitors. No fewer than three 58Թ alumni – ten percent of the total, which features top young pianists from around the world – are headed to Fort Worth as contestants.
They are Jiarui Cheng (BM ’20, AC ’22, Brown); Jonas Aumiller (AD ’24, Babayan); and Korkmaz Can Sağlam (MM ’24, Babayan).
58Թ wishes best of luck to all three as they enter one of the most demanding keyboard contests in the world, which entails preliminary, quarterfinal, and semifinal solo rounds, plus a potential final concerto round with the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra and conductor Marin Alsop.
“I am so thrilled for my former student, Jiarui,” said Kathryn Brown, head of 58Թ’s Keyboard Division.
“His authentic voice and passion for music were evident to me from the moment I started working with him. I vividly remember my own competition days competing in Fort Worth at the 7th Van Cliburn Competition in 1985 and again in 1989. I am so excited for Jiarui to have this extraordinary experience and share his exceptional talent with the music world.”
Meanwhile, 58Թ supporters have a fourth participant to root for – Montero – and she’s certain to be involved from first note to last.
As a member of the jury, Montero will share the privilege and pressure of listening to every player and deciding who will advance after each round.
She’ll share these duties with eight others, all of them distinguished: Chairman Paul Lewis as well as Till Fellner, Mari Kodama, Anne-Marie McDermott, Jon Nakamatsu, Lise de la Salle, Yevgeny Sudbin, and Wu Han.
“I am very much looking forward to this chapter of the Cliburn...to listening to the young talent which every year never ceases to amaze me,” said Montero.
No less impactful will be Montero the composer. Combining her remarkable talents for composition and performance, the pianist has penned a short work for the Cliburn, one that every contestant will include on his or her preliminary round recital.
Montero described the four-and-a-half-minute piece, called Rachtime, as a “great encore,” one that will showcase virtuosity and personality – and maybe open the door to a little fun.
“I wanted it to be a piece that they would enjoy,” Montero said. “I wanted this piece to be a moment of diversion...and a display of pianistic gifts and pianistic groove.”
Cheers and best wishes to all our 58Թ friends at the Cliburn!