ON TOP OF THE WORLD

Fort Worth, Texas. Home to the Kimbell Art Museum, the Stockyards rodeos and a National Cowgirl Museum, the fifth-largest city in Texas is an unlikely destination for the musical elite. However, every four years, pianophiles and classical music executives descend upon it to find the virtuosos of tomorrow at the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition.

To make it here, the finalists have already passed a stringent selection process. Delayed by a year due to the pandemic, a record number of 388 pianists from 51 countries made an initial application, including Russian and Ukrainian candidates. The competition’s administration grasped the nettle in early March and indicated that Russian-born pianists would be permitted to audition, as they were neither officials of their government nor state-sponsored. Several other classical music organisations followed suit; both the Honens and Dublin piano competitions quickly reversed their