CONROE, Texas June 26, 2017 Kenneth Broberg, a 2013 silver medalist in the Young Texas Artists Competition in Conroe, is now the silver medal winner in the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition.
“We are just thrilled,” Susie Pokorski, chair of Young Texas Artists, Inc. said. This is an extremely prestigious competition. For a musician, placing in the Van Cliburn is a bit like an actor winning an Oscar or Emmy.
Broberg, 23, was one of four Americans to compete and one of the two who made it to the final round in the Van Cliburn competition, which is held every four years in Fort Worth. This year, 30 of the nearly 300 pianists from around the world who applied to participate in the Van Cliburn were selected. The competition ran May 25 to June 10.
As a silver medalist, Broberg won three years of career management, U.S. concert tours and a recording partnership with Universal Music Group in addition to a $25,000 cash prize.
This comes while Broberg is working on his master’s degree under 2001 Cliburn gold medalist Stanislav Ioudenitch at Park University in Parkville, Missouri. Broberg, a native of Minneapolis, began studying piano at age 6, learning under Joseph Zins through high school and under Nancy Weems at the University of Houston’s Moores School of Music. It was during his time at UH that Broberg placed in the Young Texas Artists Competition. “He’s just an extraordinary artist,” Pokorski said. “We brought him back in 2015 for one of our concerts.”
Broberg also has won first prizes at the Hastings and Dallas international piano competitions, along with medals at the Sydney, Seattle, New Orleans, and Wideman (Shreveport) competitions. Several of his performances at the 2016 Sydney International Piano Competition were released on CD on the Universal Music label.
Seeing how far Broberg has progressed has been a rewarding experience for the many volunteers who work behind the scenes for YTA. “It really demonstrates the caliber of our finalists and winners,” said Pokorski, adding that many of the YTA volunteers watched Broberg’s Van Cliburn performances online or through Fathom Events, which brings live performing arts events to movie theaters.
The international competition was established in 1962 by Van Cliburn, who was raised in Kilgore and became an American hero when he won the International Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow in 1958, during the Cold War. The pianist was still in his 20s when he founded the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition to launch and support the careers of other young pianists.
“Our organization strives to find artists who are exceptional and give them an experience that helps them grow as artists,” Pokorski said. “We’ve had a couple of Grammy nominees, singers who’ve gone on the Metropolitan Opera, and performers who’ve taken prestigious performing and teaching positions all over the world. But this is the first time one of them has won a Van Cliburn.”
About the Young Texas Artists Music Competition
An official music competition of the State of Texas, Young Texas Artists Music Competition has, since its founding in 1983, encouraged excellence in young musicians, inspired their audiences and provided a launching pad for countless classical music careers. It is one of the few competitions in the country where musicians compete in one of four divisions: Voice; Piano; Strings; and Winds, Brass, Percussion, Harp and Guitar. This Texas competition for Texas artists has helped produce many distinguished professionals who have gone on to join orchestras, opera companies, universities and music schools around the world. Young Texas Artists, Inc. is a member of the Greater Conroe Arts Alliance.