Ukrainian wins Cliburn piano competition, SoCal’s Sean Chen places third
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Southern California-raised Sean Chen, at 24 the first American to make the finals of the quadrennial Van Cliburn International Piano Competition since 1997, won the third place “crystal award” Sunday. As the 17-day competition ended at Bass Performance Hall in Fort Worth, Texas, the six finalists played concertos accompanied by the Fort Worth Symphony led by Leonard Slatkin.
Vadym Kholodenko, 26, of the Ukraine won the gold medal -- worth $50,000. Chen and the silver medalist, Beatrice Rana of Italy, each will get a $20,000 prize.
The three top finishers also get a management contract and three seasons of contract touring -- Kholodenko’s itinerary will include U.S. and international dates; Chen and Rana’s touring will be in the U.S. alone.
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The three other finalists receive $10,000; six pianists who made it as far as the semifinals collected $5,000 prizes and others in the 30-musician field got $1,000.
Chen, who hails from Oak Park in Ventura County, has performed as a soloist with the Thousand Oaks-based New West Symphony. He expects to earn a postgraduate artist diploma from Yale in 2014 and holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the Juilliard School.
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