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The documentary about the 2007 Cliburn Amateur Competition is being streamed now (starting at noon Pacific time) at Cliburn.org, or YouTube and will be available for the next 48 hours.

Watch the movie if you can. Mark_C and Ken Iisaka play important characters!

Yes, ourselves!

Also, Clark Griffith, who like Ken is featured very prominently, has done some posting here.

A wonderful movie and I hope to be able to join you guys at the event one day. This documentary is one of the things that brought the competition to my awareness many years ago. It seems to be a true meeting of like-minded spirits.

+1

Hi, PianogrlNW! I regard the 2007 VC Amateur Competition to be my "15 minutes of fame". In the Fort Worth newspaper, I was photographed at the piano as part of a feature article about the Competition, one that suggested that Classical piano aficionados could expect to hear just about anything from the repertoire as the Competition proceeded, citing me as an example. I found this to be quite interesting -- it suggested that there was indeed a hunger of many informed listeners to experience other than the "tried-and-true" as an important component of the Amateur Competition experience. To this day, I consider it a great compliment to my efforts -- probably the greatest.

Oh, just for the record, I played the following pieces in the Preliminary Round:

Leo Ornstein "A Long Remembered Sorrow", and
Deodat de Severac "Le Jour de la Foire, au Mas" (roughly translated, Celebration Day at the Ranch)

I didn't make it to the SemiFinals; I wasn't expecting to -- but I did make my mark, and it wasn't notoriety!

Now I get why you were both able to turn in such convincing performances.

I'll definitely have to watch and see what the older crowd on the forum is made up of.

I got the videos - I think there's two or three - of "Playing With Fire" - it's pretty good. I think it's the one Jon Nakamatsu won...1997 - wow, was it that long ago?

It’s a great movie! You’ll love it.

Tim, Are you in the movie?? Let us know.

But I got to hear your Mompou Chopin Variations. One of the most memorable moments that week.

Hi, PianogrlNW, Ken -- I believe Judy (my wife) and I were briefly in a couple of shots when the crew was panning a few social events associated with the Competition. Also, I was the guy to whom Ken Iisaka was showing the massive Alkan score that he would play for the final round that year. And Ken, I had forgotten that I gave you an impromptu "private hearing" of the Mompou Variations in the social area accompanying the performance hall (there were several practice rooms available). Pianogrl, the Mompou is indeed a remarkable set based on Chopin's famous A Major Prelude (the one-pager -- duh-DAH-de-DAH--DAH--DAH---....). But instead of the technical embellishments normally associated with piano variations, he puts you in different atmospheric worlds, concluding with an ingenious reprise of the melody in the haze of a 20th century lens.