Park University will be Well-Represented at Quadrennial Van Cliburn International Piano Competition
April 10, 2025 — A trio of pianists from Park University’s International Center for Music have been announced among the 30 selected to participate in the 17th Van Cliburn International Piano Competition, to be held Wednesday, May 21, through Saturday, June 7, in Fort Worth, Texas.
This international quadrennial event, widely considered to be one of the most prestigious piano contests in the world, has launched the careers of numerous pianists since 1962, including Park ICM founder and artistic director Stanislav Ioudenitch, who won the gold medal in 2001.
This year, three of Ioudenitch’s students past and present will compete in The Cliburn:
• Yangrui Cai (above right), graduate student – seeking Master of Music in Performance/Piano
• Jiarui Cheng (left), freshman music performance/piano major
• Anastasia Vorotnaya (right), 2021 graduate artist diploma in music performance/piano and 2023 graduate certificate in music performance/piano
Beyond cash awards, they will be competing for a chance at an international touring career. Medalists win three years of comprehensive and personalized career management, including concert bookings, artistic support and bolstered publicity efforts. The total Cliburn prize package is worth an estimated $2 million.
Besides Ioudenitch, Park University has been well-represented in The Cliburn in recent years. Ilya Shmukler, who earned a graduate certificate in music performance/piano from the Park ICM in 2021 and a graduate artist diploma in music performance/piano in 2023, advanced to the final round in 2022, tying for fourth. He won a cash prize of $10,000 as a finalist and was selected as the winner of the “Best Performance of a Mozart Concerto,” earning an additional $5,000 prize. He also advanced to the quarterfinals in the 2017 event, prior to becoming a Park student in 2019. At that same 2017 event, then Park ICM graduate student Kenny Broberg (who earned a Master of Music degree from Park in 2021) finished as the silver medalist.
The 2025 Cliburn begins Wednesday-Friday, May 21-23, with all 30 competitors in the preliminary round performing a 40-minute recital that will include a performance of a commissioned work composed by Gabriela Montero. The quarterfinals, with 18 performers advancing, will be Saturday and Sunday, May 24-25, with each pianist playing a 40-minute recital. The semifinals will see 12 competitors, each performing a 60-minute recital and a Mozart concerto with the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra, Wednesday-Sunday, May 28-June 1. The finals, featuring six pianists with each performing two concertos (one free choice, one from a specific list) will be held Tuesday-Saturday, June 3-7. The awards ceremony will be held the evening of June 7.
The entire 2025 Cliburn competition will be broadcast live and available for on-demand viewing on multiple channels, including cliburn.org and on the Cliburn’s YouTube channel. For more information about the 2025 competition, visit cliburn.org/competitions/2025-cliburn-competition.