Silver medalist Yeoul Eum Son, left, is pictured with gold medalists Nobuyuki Tsujii and Haochen Zhang.

A tie was announced Sunday for the winners of the Thirteenth Van Cliburn International Piano Competition at the Bass Performance Hall in Fort Worth. 

The 2009 Cliburn winners are Nobuyuki Tsujii, 20, of Japan, and Haochen Zhang, 19, of China. Famed pianist Van Cliburn made the announcement Sunday at the awards ceremony which followed 17 days of fierce competition among the world’s top pianists.

The Gold Medal prize includes a cash award of $20,000; international and national concert tours for the three seasons following the competition, coordinated by the Van Cliburn Foundation in conjunction with IMG Artists Europe; a CD recording on the harmonia mundi usa label; performance attire provided by Neiman Marcus; and a contribution toward domestic and international air travel on American Airlines during the three-year tour.

Tsujii and Zhang were the two youngest pianists in the 2009 Competition, and they were the first to tie since 2001 when Stanislav Ioudenitch and Olga Kern took home gold medals.

Silver medalist was 23-year-old Yeol Eum Son of South Korea.

The second prize includes a cash award of $20,000; U.S. concert tours and career management for the three concert seasons following the competition; and a CD recording on the harmonia mundi usa label.

The crystal award was not given this year.

The remaining finalists were Evgeni Bozhanov, 25, of Bulgaria;  Mariangela Vacatello, 27, of Italy; and Di Wu, 24, of China.

More information is available at www.cliburn.org.

The six pianists selected to advance to the final round of the Thirteenth Van Cliburn International Piano Competition. The announcement was made Sunday from the stage of The Bass Performance Hall in Fort Worth.

The six finalists, in alphabetical order, are: 

Mr. Evgeni Bozhanov, 25, Bulgaria
Ms. Yeol Eum Son, 23, South Korea
Mr. Nobuyuki Tsujii, 20, Japan
Ms. Mariangela Vacatello, 27, Italy
Ms. Di Wu, 24, China
Mr. Haochen Zhang, 19, China

Each pianist will select two concerti of his or her choice to perform with the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra under the direction of American conductor James Conlon. In addition, each finalist will perform a 50-minute solo recital of works not performed in previous rounds.

The Final Round will be held Wednesday through Sunday, and every concert will feature three artists. There will be one concert at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Thursday and Friday; concerts at 1:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. Saturday; and a 1:30 p.m. concert Sunday. The awards ceremony will follow at 5 p.m.

Individual tickets to the competition are on sale at the Bass Performance Hall box office or by phone at 800-462-7979. Prices range from $30 to $140 for the final round and from $20 to $75 for Sunday’s awards ceremony.

Soyeon Lee performs during the preliminary round of the 13th Van Cliburn International Piano Competition in Fort Worth.

Twelve young pianists have been selected to advance to the semifinal round of the Thirteenth Van Cliburn International Piano Competition (www.cliburn.org) being held at the Bass Performance Hall in Fort Worth.

John Giordano, chairman of the jury for the Cliburn 2009, announced the names Tuesday of those advancing from the stage of the performance hall. The twelve competitors, in alphabetical order, are:

Mr. Evgeni Bozhanov, Bulgaria, 25
Mr. Ran Dank, Israel, 27
Mr. Alessandro Deljavan, Italy, 22
Ms. Kyu Yeon Kim, South Korea, 23
Mr. Eduard Kunz, Russia, 28
Ms. Andrea Lam, Australia, 27
Mr. Michail Lifits, Germany, 26
Ms. Yeol Eum Son, South Korea, 23
Mr. Nobuyuki Tsujii, Japan,20
 Ms. Mariangela Vacatello, Italy, 27
Ms Di Wu, China, 24
Mr. Haochen Zhang, China, 19

Twenty-nine pianists representing 14 countries competed in the Thirteenth Van Cliburn International Piano Competition’s preliminary round, which was began May 22. The competitors performed a variety of works by composers including Albeniz, Bach, and Boulez, to Carter, Debussy, and Ginastera, as well as Liszt, Haydn, Mozart and Schumann.

During the second round, each pianist will perform a 60-minute solo recital with music of his or her choice, along with one selected contemporary work from the winning compositions of the third American Composers Invitational. Each competitor will also perform one of the designated piano quintets in a separate concert with the Takács Quartet.
 
On May 31, Giordano will announce the six pianists advancing to the final competition. Each will choose two concerti to perform with the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra under the direction of renowned American conductor James Conlon. Each finalist will also present a separate 50-minute solo recital of works not performed in the preceding rounds. The Final Round is scheduled for  June 3 through 7.