Drew Mays, left, is congratulated by friend Mark Cannon, center, and his wife Therese Mays after winning the Cliburn amateur piano competition at TCU on Sunday, June 3, 2007. (Fort Worth Star-Telegram/Khampha Bouaphanh)
by MATTHEW ERIKSON/ Star-Telegram Staff Writer
Monday, June 4, 2007
FORT WORTH — Before arriving last week at the Cliburn Foundation’s fifth International Piano Competition for Outstanding Amateurs, Drew Mays had set reaching the semifinals as his goal. His dream was reaching the finals.But Sunday, the 47-year-old ophthalmologist from Birmingham, Ala., took top honors at Texas Christian University’s Ed Landreth Auditorium. He bested 74 other amateur pianists from 23 states and Australia, Brazil, Canada, France, Germany and Switzerland to win $2,000; recital dates in Washington, D.C., and Laguna Beach, Calif.; and a pair of custom spurs.
“I haven’t let it sink in yet,” said Mays, surrounded by his four children and a gaggle of cameras on the auditorium stage. He was still glowing after receiving his trophy from Van Cliburn, a childhood idol. Mays also won the audience award and won best performance of a Romantic-era work.
Phoenix lawyer Mark Fuller won second prize, the press jury award, and best performance of a post-Romantic work. Fort Worth resident and composer Clark Griffith won third prize and best performance of a Baroque work.
Mays and Fuller were the last two of six finalists to perform Sunday afternoon. Well-matched in technique, Mays and Fuller were also first-time contestants.
But the similarities ended there. The pianists selected different programs and had greatly different temperaments. Mays had spectators on their feet with a fiery 30-minute recital of Beethoven’s Waldstein Sonata and Liszt’s Mephisto Waltz. Fuller impressed with a carefully considered and impeccably played program of Ned Rorem Etudes and Samuel Barber’s Sonata, Op. 26.
In his opening remarks, Van Cliburn praised the competitors for their infectious enthusiasm. He also paid homage to his friend, the Russian cellist Mstislav Rostropovich, who died in April, urging the musicians and music-lovers in the audience to become what Rostropovich would call “soldiers of beauty.”
The award ceremonies unexpectedly turned into a concert when four jury members — Cliburn gold medalists Jose Feghali, Stanislav Ioudenitch, Olga Kern and Jon Nakamatsu — performed eight-hand piano music, arrangements of the Waltz from Gounod’s Faust and Sousa’s The Stars and Stripes Forever. The pianists played it for laughs, all to the delight of the crowd.
The amateur Cliburn was established in 1999 and may be the most prestigious amateur piano competition in the world. It is the younger sibling to the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition. The next amateur Cliburn will be in 2011.
The winners
First: Drew Mays, Birmingham, Ala., $2,000 cash
Second: Mark Fuller, Phoenix, $1,500 cash
Third: Clark Griffith, Fort Worth, $1,000 cash
Best performance of a Baroque work: Clark Griffith, $250
Best performance of a Classical work: Franz Mantini, Tampa, Fla., $250
Best performance of a Romantic-era work: Drew Mays, $250
Best performance of a post-Romantic work: Mark Fuller, $250
Most creative program award: Esfir Ross, Oakland, Calif., $250
Jury discretionary awards: Thomas Maurice, Baltimore, and Kent Lietzau, Rockville, Md., $250
Press jury award: Mark Fuller
Audience award: Drew Mays
Fort Worth Piano Teachers Forum Award: David Hibbard, Fort Worth
Drew Mays gets a kiss from his wife Therese Mays after winning the Cliburn amateur piano competition at TCU on Sunday, June 3, 2007. (Fort Worth Star-Telegram/Khampha Bouaphanh)
Drew Mays celebrates after winning the Cliburn amateur piano competition at TCU on Sunday, June 3, 2007. (Fort Worth Star-Telegram/Khampha Bouaphanh)
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Drew Mays accepts applauses after his performance during the finals of the Cliburn amateur piano competition at TCU on Sunday, June 3, 2007. (Fort Worth Star-Telegram/Khampha Bouaphanh)
Clark Griffith of Fort Worth placed third in the Cliburn amateur competition Sunday. He also won best performance of a Baroque work. (Fort Worth Star-Telegram/Jill Johnson)
