Carter Johnson, with roots in both Canada and the United States, has advanced to the semifinal round of the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition in Fort Worth, Texas. The 28 year old will be going up against a field of 12 competitors.
Canadian Alice Burla also competed in the quarterfinals, but did not advance to the final rounds.
The 17th Van Cliburn International Piano Competition kicked off on May 21, and runs until June 7, 2025. The competition has been held every four years since 1962, and previous winners include Radu Lupu (1966), Vadym Kholodenko (2013), and Yunchan Lim (2022).
The competition began May 21 with 28 participants. At the quarterfinals, which concluded May 25, 17 pianists competed by performing 40-minute solo recitals, with the repertoire left to their own choosing.
You can check out Johnson’s quarterfinal recital of Shostakovich, Brahms, Bartók here:
Carter Johnson
Johnson, a native of Vancouver Island, is no stranger to either competitions or wins. He was a silver medalist of the 2024 Gina Bachauer Competition. He’s performed with the Orchestre symphonique de Montréal, the Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Orchestre Métropolitain, the Utah Symphony, the Poznań Philharmonic Orchestra, among others in a busy on stage career.
He began studying piano at the age of five, and earned a Bachelor of Music at the University of British Columbia, followed by a Master of Music from the Juilliard School. He continued his studies at the Yale School of Music where he completed a Master of Musical Arts, and is currently a candidate for a Doctor of Musical Arts. Previously, he received an ATCL with distinction in speech and drama from Trinity College London.
Johnson is currently based in Hamden, Connecticut with his family. In addition to a busy concert schedule, he also teaches.
The Competition
Here’s the full list of semifinalists:
- Yanjun Chen, China, 23
- Chaeyoung Park, South Korea, 27
- Yangrui Cai, China, 24
- Evren Ozel, United States, 26
- Jonas Aumiller, Germany, 26
- Angel Stanislav Wang, United States, 22
- Piotr Alexewicz, Poland, 25
- Vitaly Starikov, Israel/Russia, 30
- Carter Johnson, Canada/United States, 28
- Philipp Lynov, Russia, 26
- Aristo Sham, Hong Kong, China, 29
- Elia Cecino, Italy, 23
Next, the 12 semifinalists will compete in two phases, with performances that will stretch over nine concerts and five days from May 28 until June 1. The first phase consists of a 60-minute solo recital of repertoire the candidates will have again chosen for themselves.
The second phase will be a Mozart concerto, selected from a list of ten, performed with the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra under conductor Carlos Miguel Prieto.
From the 12, six finalists will be chosen following the last performance on June 1. The finals will take place June 3 – 7 at Bass Hall, where the winners will be announced on the final day. First prize includes a gold medal, $100,000 USD cash, international concert tour management, live album recording, performance attire from Neiman Marcus, and more.
Following the winners’ announcement on June 7, there will be a public celebration in Sundance Square.
The 2022 Cliburn Competition was viewed online more than 60 million times in 177 countries, and is now one of the most-watched classical music events in history. Watch the stream here.
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