Eighth Van Cliburn International Piano Competition

The Eighth Van Cliburn International Piano Competition took place in Fort Worth, Texas, from May 27 to June 11, 1989. Soviet pianist Alexei Sultanov won the competition, while José Carlos Cocarelli (Brazil) and Benedetto Lupo (Italy) were awarded the silver and bronze medals. Sultanov was 19 years old at the time. Alexander Shtarkman (USSR), Tian Ying (China), and Elisso Bolkvadze (USSR) were the 4th, 5th, and 6th place winners respectively.

William Schuman composed his Chester: Variations for Piano for the competition, while Robert Rauschenberg created its official artwork. Rauschenberg was the first artist to be commissioned for the competition in its history." Dudley Moore served as master of ceremonies for the awards presentation.

Applicants were required to send videotaped auditions, and out of 240 applicants from around the world, 38 were chosen for the competition. Sultanov was the youngest of the 38.

The initial field of 38 competitors was narrowed down to 12 semifinalists: three from the USSR, two from China, and one each from Japan, France, Portugal, Canada, the USA, Brazil, and Italy. The twelve semi-finalists were each required to play a one-hour solo recital that included Schuman's commissioned work, Chester: Variations for Piano, and a quintet with the Tokyo String Quartet.

The six finalists performed two full-length concertos, one by either Mozart or Beethoven with the Fort Worth Chamber Orchestra, and the other work of the competitor's choosing with the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra.

Sultanov was a student at Moscow State Conservatory during that time, and in 1990 he told The Christian Science Monitor that the conservatory was "not thrilled" that he won the Van Cliburn competition. He said the officials there had not wanted him to compete, but it was too late. He had already made it into the preliminary rounds.

The jury panel included both a Russian who had gained political asylum in the U.S. and a Soviet national. This fact was attributed by the United Press International to "the impact of glasnost".

A documentary film of the competition, The Eighth Van Cliburn International Piano Competition: Here to Make Music was produced and directed by Peter Rosen. Rosen was given the 1989 award for Best Documentary Director by the Directors Guild of America.

Jurors

 * 🇺🇸 John Giordano (chairman)
 * Sergei Dorensky
 * 🇵🇱 Jan Ekier
 * 🇫🇷 Nicole Henriot-Schweitzer
 * 🇺🇸 Lawrence Leighton Smith
 * 🇨🇳 Ming-Qiang Li
 * 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 John Lill
 * 🇯🇵 Minoru Nojima
 * 🇧🇷 Cristina Ortiz
 * 🇺🇸 John Pfeiffer
 * 🇭🇺 György Sándor
 * Maxim Shostakovich
 * 🇺🇸 Abbey Simon
 * 🇯🇵 Takahiro Sonoda
 * 🇪🇸 Joaquín Soriano
 * 🇺🇸 Ralph Votapek