EarRelevant Staff | 22 JAN 2026
FORT WORTH, Texas— The Cliburn announced today that it will launch a new international competition for conductors, expanding its slate of programs beyond piano for the first time in its history.
The Cliburn International Competition for Conductors will take place in June 2028 in Houston, in partnership with the Houston Symphony and the Shepherd School of Music at Rice University. Open to conductors ages 21 to 35, the event is being billed by the organization as the first major international conducting competition to be based in North America.
Conductor Marin Alsop will serve as jury chair. Alsop also led the finals of the 2022 and 2025 Van Cliburn International Piano Competitions. The Houston Symphony will perform with all competitors throughout the competition.
An artistic advisory committee will consult on repertoire, competition rounds, and professional development for participants. Committee members include Alsop; Miguel Harth-Bedoya, distinguished resident director of orchestras and professor of conducting at Rice; Kent Nagano; Robert Spano; Juraj Valčuha, music director of the Houston Symphony; and Xian Zhang.
According to The Cliburn, applications will open in October 2026 and be due in November 2027. A screening jury will review video submissions and select up to 25 conductors for a live screening round at Rice University in early 2028. From that group, 12 competitors will be invited to participate in the competition’s public rounds in June 2028.
Events will be held at the Shepherd School of Music and Jesse H. Jones Hall for the Performing Arts, home of the Houston Symphony. All rounds will be open to the public, with tickets expected to go on sale in early 2028.
The winner will receive a $50,000 cash prize, along with concert engagements and promotional support. Finalists will each receive $20,000.
The Cliburn said all rounds of the competition will be livestreamed, continuing the organization’s emphasis on digital access. Its competitions have drawn more than 100 million video views worldwide over the past four years, according to the organization.
The new competition will become part of the Cliburn’s four-year cycle, which will now include a non-competition year focused on career development, the Cliburn International Junior Piano Competition in 2027, the conducting competition in 2028, and the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition in 2029.
As part of the restructuring, the Cliburn International Amateur Piano Competition, founded in 1999, will be discontinued. The organization said the program had largely fulfilled its mission of encouraging music-making among nonprofessional pianists.
Founded in Fort Worth in 1962, The Cliburn is best known for the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition, one of the most prominent classical music competitions in the world. ■
EXTERNAL LINKS:
- The Cliburn: cliburn.org
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