Today at 1p CDT! Enjoy favorite moments from the winners of our first Cliburn Junior Competition (2015). They'll all be with us in the chat from their homes around the world: Alim Beisembayev in London; Arsenii MUN in St. Petersburg, Russia; and Youlan Ji in upstate New York.

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PROGRAM
(originally broadcast from TCU – Texas Christian University June 2015)

YOULAN JI
RACHMANINOV Etude-Tableaux, op. 33, nos. 2, 6, 8, & 9

Arsenii MUN
BEETHOVEN 32 Variations in C Minor, WoO 80
LISZT La campanella

ALIM BEISEMBAYEV
RACHMANINOV Prelude in G Major, op. 32, no. 5
DEBUSSY Feux d'artifice
LISZT Paganini Etude No. 6 in A Minor

ABOUT THE 2015 JUNIOR WINNERS:

ALIM BEISEMBAYEV
Shortly after his 2015 Cliburn Junior win—when he was declared “impressive and clearly worth watching”— Alim graduated from the Purcell School for Young Musicians and was accepted at the Royal Academy of Music with a full scholarship, to continue his studies with Tessa Nicholson. He has since made his debuts at the Wigmore Hall and Royal Albert Festival Hall (and with that, been featured on BBC Radio) and gone on to win prizes at the Manchester International, Vigo International, and Jacques Samuel Intercollegiate Piano Competitions. Born in Kazakhstan, Alim started playing piano when he was 5; at age 10, he moved to Moscow to study at the Central Music school, and two years later, moved again to London to study at the Purcell School.

ARSENII MUN
Now 21, Arsenii moved to New York in fall 2019 to study with Sergei Babayan at The Juilliard School, after nine years at the St. Petersburg State Rimsky-Korsakov and its affiliated Middle Special School of Music. Since his Cliburn appearance, he continues to grow his profile in the United States and Europe, and has been recognized with the Tabor Foundation Award as best pianist at Verbier Festival Academy, 1st prize at both the International Competition for Young Pianists Arthur Rubinstein in memoriam and the International Piano Competition in Saint-Priest, France, and winner of the Yuri Temirkanov Prize. He continues to refine his skills on the soccer field and snowboard when weather and social-distancing permit.

YOULAN JI
Born in Beijing, Youlan started piano lessons at age 4, and moved to New York upon acceptance at The Juilliard School’s Pre-College Division at age 13. At the 2015 Cliburn Junior, she was hailed for performances that were "stunning,” with playing that is “clean, sparkling, light and scampering… intelligent.” Just 16 at that time, she has since won first prize at the New York International Piano Competition and made debuts at the Phillips Collection and other young artist series across New York. She also graduated from the Professional Children’s School in New York, and entered Juilliard as an undergraduate student in 2018, continuing to work with Yoheved Kaplinsky.

Ask this girl to do revision, she might not respond. Ask her go hang up her towel, it might still be on her bed the next day. Ask her go pack the living room and, if she does it at all, she does it at a snail's pace.

BUT, ask her "Do you wanna help me make dinner?" and she comes scampering into the kitchen right away. Always.

Yup, she is definitely the most passionate one when it comes to cooking, I think even more so than me. So thankful that being in Primary 1 means she has no exams and very little homework, so we have all the time to let her pursue her hobbies, do what she likes and play with her siblings after school every day. It's a different case when they go to upper primary (oh, I know I know) so we are cherishing these simple but happy moments that we get to spend together.

Somehow, I've a feeling that she will still make time to help out even when she gets older. That's simply because she seems to enjoy the process of learning to cook and creating the final dish, and is always proud to tell everyone which was done by her that day. I'm pinning my hopes on that. Hahaha. Glad to see cooking makes you smile, my dear!

P.S. Fishballs were cut by the baby brother. Not bad, cooking also can learn to work as a team!

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