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OBERLIN CONSERVATORY PIANIST WINS SILVER MEDAL IN VAN CLIBURN COMPETITION
JULY 11, 2001--Internationally renowned pianist Antonio Pompa-Baldi was a silver medal winner in the 11th Van Cliburn International Piano Competition, held in Fort Worth, Texas. Pompa-Baldi is a visiting assistant professor of piano at the Conservatory.
Two gold medals and two silver medals were awarded--the first time in the competition's history--and there were no bronze winners. The prizes were announced during an awards ceremony June 10 in Fort Worth.
Pompa-Baldi made his first official appearance with the other medalists, each of whom performed their winning concertos with the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Miguel Harth-Bedoya, at the Garden Summer Music Festival during the weekend of June 16 and 17.
Six finalists were chosen after performances in two solo recitals with the Takács Quartet during preliminary and semi-finals rounds. During the finals round, each pianist performed two concertos with the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra, under the baton of James Conlon.
As a silver medal winner, Pompa-Baldi receives a $20,000 cash award, a U.S. concert tour, professional career management for two concert seasons and a compact disc recording contract. He also received one of the competition’s additional prizes. His performance of Three Impromptus by American composer Lowell Liebermann garnered him the Phyllis Jones Tilley Memorial Award for the best performance of a new work.
A documentary of the Van Cliburn competition, directed by Emmy Award winner Peter Rosen, will premiere on PBS October 17, 2001, at 9:30 P.M. EST.
Winner of the 1999 Cleveland Competition, Pompa-Baldi has played extensively throughout the United States and Europe, including performances in Milan, Naples, New York, Paris and Cleveland. He has been featured as a soloist with the Orchestre National de Paris-Radio France, the Orchestra Sinfonica Siciliana, the Ohio Chamber Orchestra, the Southwest Florida Symphony, the Charleston Symphony Orchestra, the Savannah Symphony Orchestra and the Spokane Symphony. He has served on the faculty of the Annamaria Pennella International Academy in L’Aquila, Italy, and has recorded a CD of Brahms piano music on the Azica label.
Media Contact: Marci Janas
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