It’s been years since Dallas-raised pianist Jeffrey Swann played in his hometown, and this week he returns, but not as a performer. He’ll be on the jury for the Cliburn International Junior Piano Competition and Festival running June 8-17 in Dallas.
The competition’s opening rounds will take place at Southern Methodist University’s Caruth Auditorium. It’s a school that Swann knows well, having performed there often as a young student. At just 10 years old, he started studying with SMU’s Alexander Uninsky.
“It’s a place where I played many of my first concerts and most of my first important concerts,” Swann said. “It has a very strong resonance for me.”
Now on faculty at New York University, Swann won the bronze medal at the flagship Cliburn competition in 1977. He is the only Texan to medal at the Fort Worth competition, named after the legendary Texas pianist Van Cliburn.
“Winning the Cliburn was a wonderful thing, but it was the hardest of the competitions I did … because I was at home,” Swann said.
The junior event is a recent addition to the Cliburn’s repertoire. Launched in 2015, the competition is now in its third iteration.
After preliminary, quarter- and semifinal rounds at SMU, three finalists will perform concertos with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra and conductor Valentina Peleggi on June 17 at the Meyerson Symphony Center.
“It’s great fun,” Swann said. “The kids play completely fearlessly. They haven’t had anybody come and spoil their instincts yet. I’m tremendously looking forward to hearing some absolutely fantastic young talents.”
Swann also emphasized the Junior’s goal of celebrating young pianists. Competitors range from 13 to 17 years old and come from five countries.
“What we’re really interested in is people who move us by doing beautiful things,” Swann said of the jury. “We’re just like other members of the audience. We sit there and what we want is to be excited and to hear a real, original voice.”
