The Thirteenth Van Cliburn International Piano Competition took place in Fort Worth, Texas from May 22 to June 7, 2009. The competitors were selected by a screening jury during screening auditions that took place in January and February 2009. The Takács Quartet performed with the semifinalists, while the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra conducted by James Conlon accompanied the finalists. At the suggestion of composer John Corigliano, a 25-member nominating committee of distinguished musicians issued invitations to noted American composers to submit solo piano scores 8 to 12 minutes in length. Original works by American composers John Musto, Mason Bates, and Daron Hagen were chosen. Competitors can meet Van Cliburn, a famous American pianist, who came in first place at the Tchaikovsky competition that took place in Moscow, Russia. The Van Cliburn International Piano Competition is a quadrennial competition hosted by the Van Cliburn Foundation. The first competition took place September 24-October 7, 1962 in Fort Worth, Texas.

Jury

(* denotes members of screening audition jury)

Awards

Competition results, by rounds

Screening Auditions

🇨🇳 Shanghai - Shanghai Conservatory, He Lu Ting Concert Hall, January 15–17, 2009 🇩🇪 Hanover - Hochschule für Musik und Theater Hannover, January 20–24, 2009 🇷🇺 Saint Petersburg - N.A. Rimsky-Korsakov State Conservatory, January 26–27, 2009 🇨🇭 Lugano - Radiotelevisione Svizzera di lingua Italiana, February 1–3, 2009 🇺🇸 New York - Rockefeller University, February 12–14, 2009 🇺🇸 Fort Worth, Texas - Texas Christian University, February 21–24, 2009

Preliminary round

🇺🇸 Fort Worth, Texas - Bass Performance Hall, May 22–26, 2009

Semifinalists

Finalists

Competition Documentary

Like previous Cliburn Competitions, a competition documentary was produced called A Surprise in Texas, directed by Peter Rosen who directed several previous Cliburn documentaries. It premiered on April 11, 2010 at the Dallas International Film Festival and was broadcast nationwide in the USA on Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) television starting on September 1, 2010.