Shuan Hern Lee Wins the Cliburn Jr.
Shuan Hern Lee wins the prestigeous Cliburn Jr.
Bernice Gressman Meyerson -
FISRT PRIZE
2019 Cliburn International Junior
Piano Competition & Festival.
Cliburn International Piano Competitions (like the Olympics) are only held every fours years, and although the original competition has been running since 1962, the 2019 Cliburn International Junior Competition is only the second ever to be staged.
To be selected for the Cliburn is an honour in itself, as it requires an extensive international selection process. Then the actual competition is round after increasingly demanding round of performances reducing an initial field of
23 of the world’s top young pianists
down to 14,
then 6, then the
final 3 –
all of whom perform live with the Dallas Symphony for the final judging round. Shuan Hern performed Rachmaninov Concerto No. 3 with the Dallas Symphony in the final, which was the piece he debuted with the MetSO last year in the build up to this competition.
An excerpt from Cliburn Jury Chairman Alessio Bax’s awards speech :
“In the past 9 days we were honoured to hear some of the world’s top young pianists. Note after note, phrase after phrase, they have proven to be artists of immense talent, deep musical understanding, striking individuality, and above all kind, compassionate and caring young people who clearly possess this special mysterious mix of qualities needed to be successful in this world of ours.”
Shuan Hern Lee’s
Semi-Final Performance
(With the passing of a year since the event, Shuan Hern Lee’s winning performance with the Dallas Symphony is no-longer available via the Cliburn’s YouTube channel; here is his fantastic Semi-Final performance of the First Movement of the Rachmaninov Piano Concerto No. 3 - for your enjoyment.)