{"id":535849,"date":"2026-01-23T01:04:10","date_gmt":"2026-01-23T01:04:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/535849\/"},"modified":"2026-01-23T01:04:10","modified_gmt":"2026-01-23T01:04:10","slug":"fort-worths-cliburn-to-launch-conductor-contest-in-houston","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/535849\/","title":{"rendered":"Fort Worth\u2019s Cliburn to launch conductor contest \u2014 in Houston"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Cliburn<\/a> is teaming up with Rice University\u2019s Shepherd School of Music and the Houston Symphony<\/a> for a major new competition for orchestra conductors. To be inaugurated in June 2028, it will be open to conductors 21 to 35 years old. The Houston Symphony will perform with all competitors.<\/p>\n

Marin Alsop, who was conductor for the 2022<\/a> and 2025 Van Cliburn International Piano Competition<\/a> in Fort Worth, will serve as jury chair. <\/p>\n

Details of the competition will be announced in October of this year, with applications due in November 2027. A screening jury will evaluate online applications and video submission, selecting up to 25 applicants for a live audition in early 2028 at the Shepherd School. Twelve conductors will be selected to compete in June 2028. As with the Cliburn\u2019s piano competitions, all rounds of the conducting contest will be livestreamed.<\/p>\n

A grand prize winner will receive a cash award of $50,000, concert opportunities and publicity support. Each finalist will receive a $20,000 cash award.<\/p>\n

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The idea for the competition came from Alsop, who has been a mentor to a number of young conductors. Jacques Marquis, president and CEO of the Cliburn, was surprised to discover that though there are several conducting competitions in Europe, there\u2019s no major one in the United States.<\/p>\n

Having collaborated with the Dallas Symphony<\/a> and Southern Methodist University\u2019s Meadows School of the Arts for the Cliburn\u2019s International Junior Piano Competition & Festival, Marquis figured it would make sense to cast a wider net for partnerships. He approached Gary Ginstling, the Houston Symphony\u2019s executive director and CEO, and Rice\u2019s music school \u2014 where the conducting program is headed by former Fort Worth Symphony music director Miguel Harth-Bedoya<\/a>.<\/p>\n

With enthusiastic support from both orchestra and university, \u201cthe stars were aligned,\u201c Marquis says. \u201dI love to expand our projects in different cities, with new artistic partners. It\u2019s good for the Cliburn. I think it\u2019s a fantastic project.” <\/p>\n

\"Aristo<\/a>Review: Cliburn winner Aristo Sham plays his first post-competition recital in Fort Worth<\/a><\/p>\n

The playing was accomplished, but for at least one listener, the program wasn\u2019t ideal.<\/p>\n

\"Aristo<\/a>Did the judges for the 2025 Cliburn Competition pick the right winner?<\/a><\/p>\n

Critic Scott Cantrell looks back at the latest edition of the Fort Worth contest.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Cliburn is teaming up with Rice University\u2019s Shepherd School of Music and the Houston Symphony for a…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":535850,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5138],"tags":[5229,1576,7371,7372,7260,358,141291,3187,67,586,132,5230,68,2969],"class_list":{"0":"post-535849","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-fort-worth","8":"tag-america","9":"tag-classical-music","10":"tag-fort-worth","11":"tag-fortworth","12":"tag-performing-arts","13":"tag-texas","14":"tag-the-cliburn","15":"tag-tx","16":"tag-united-states","17":"tag-united-states-of-america","18":"tag-unitedstates","19":"tag-unitedstatesofamerica","20":"tag-us","21":"tag-usa"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115941727670020505","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/535849","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=535849"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/535849\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/535850"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=535849"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=535849"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=535849"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}