Fort Worth’s The Cliburn Launches International Conducting Competition With Houston Symphony and Rice’s Shepherd School of Music

Since its founding in 1962, Fort Worth nonprofit The Cliburn has evolved while maintaining a focus on promoting classical music and launching careers. The Van Cliburn International Piano Competition remains central to the venerable arts organization’s mission, but the launch of a Junior Piano Competition for teenage pianists and The Cliburn Agency — a boutique artist management firm — has allowed the organization to grow and meet the evolving needs of both artists and audiences.

The Cliburn’s recent announcement of an International Competition for Conductors, in partnership with the Houston Symphony and Shepherd School of Music, grew naturally out of long-standing relationships with conductors and institutional support from Houston, Cliburn President and CEO Jacques Marquis tells PaperCity Fort Worth.

“We’ve been working with conductor Marin Alsop for both the 2022 and 2025 international piano competitions,” Marquis says, “She is a very strong supporter of young conductors. Last year, I asked her, ‘What do you think The Cliburn should explore?’ She suggested a conducting competition.”

Marquis says he took a look at the state of conducting competitions around the world, finding a handful in Europe but none in North America. Guest conductors have always played a central role in The Cliburn’s competitions, Marquis says, with the ideal candidates understanding how to support the pianist’s performance without overshadowing it.

“Conductors are important, and we realized we could help them the same way we help young pianists,” Marquis says.

Building Relationships in Houston

Since Marquis took over as president and CEO 13 years ago, The Cliburn has developed partnerships with Southern Methodist University, which hosts the Junior Piano Competition, and the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, which served as the orchestra for the final round of the 2023 Junior Piano Competition.

“Good partnerships expand our mission and help us to reach a larger audience,” Marquis says. “We already had the junior competition in Dallas and the international competition in Fort Worth.”

To find a home for the International Competition for Conductors, Marquis reached out to Houston Symphony executive director Gary Ginstling to explore a potential partnership. Drawing on The Cliburn’s long-standing relationship with Texas Christian University, which hosts early rounds of the international piano competition, Marquis saw a similar role for Rice University in supporting the new contest.

The former music director of the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra, Miguel Harth-Bedoya, now heads the Shepherd School’s conducting program and leads the university’s top orchestras. He says the competition will bring significant international attention to Houston and a much-needed level of magnetism to the conducting profession.

“These types of collaborations start because of personal relationships,” he says. “There are years or decades of relationships behind this. I’ve conducted The Cliburn’s 50th anniversary concert and led many Cliburn medalists with the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra. When relations are authentic, good things come out of it.”

A New Opportunity for Conductors and a New Chapter for The Cliburn

The Cliburn International Competition for Conductors will unfold over multiple stages, beginning with an online application and video screening process. Applications will open in October 2026 and close in November 2027, after which a screening jury will select up to 25 candidates for a live audition round in early 2028 at the Shepherd School of Music. From that pool, 12 conductors will be invited to compete in the inaugural competition in June 2028.

All competition rounds will be open to the public and held at the Shepherd School of Music and Jesse H. Jones Hall, with competitors conducting the Houston Symphony throughout. The event is open to conductors aged 21 to 35.

While the final jury has not been announced yet, Harth-Bedoya says many of the qualities he looks for in conductors will serve the competitors well.

“When I’m auditioning staff conductors, I look at a few core things,” he says. “Can the person represent the music? Can they lead the orchestra in an inspired way that is exciting for the audience? If you can do those things organically, the interpretation becomes a natural extension of who they are and what the music represents.”

Marin Alsop will serve as jury chair, supported by an artistic advisory committee that includes Harth-Bedoya, Kent Nagano, Robert Spano, Juraj Valčuha, and Xian Zhang, who will consult on repertoire, structure, and career development opportunities. One grand prize winner will receive $50,000, and each finalist will each receive $20,000. All rounds will be livestreamed globally.

Conductors, Marquis says, are the “managers and CEOs of the orchestra. They have to go in front of an orchestra and sell their vision. Over the years, we started presenting Cliburn in the Classroom, launched the Cliburn Agency, and Cliburn Sessions. This is just another way for us all to help the careers of young musicians.”