Clearly Classical

The violin and viola that Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart played himself are in the United States for the first time ever. The instruments come out of storage only about once a year at the Salzburg Mozarteum in Austria. The rest of the time, they're kept under serious lockup.

Winners of 14^th Van Cliburn International Piano Competition were announced Sunday night in Fort Worth, Texas. The competition was held over 17 days.

Vadym Kholodenko, 26, of Ukraine, won the top prize of $50,000, but he said the rankings don't mean that much.

"It's kind of fun for audience, for press. It's interesting to put first, second, 10^th and so on. But in life, not so important," Kholodenko says.

And, he says, so much of life involves competing no matter what you're doing.

Six finalists for the 14th Van Cliburn International Piano Competition were announced last night in Fort Worth, Texas. For the first time since its inception more than 50 years ago, the contest is taking place without its namesake. Cliburn died in February of cancer, and the competition is dealing with his loss and other changes as well.

The New York Times called Venezuelan pianist Gabriela Martinez “compelling, elegant, and incisive." She performs this weekend with the Fresno Philharmonic, in a concert titled Russian Romantics. She will be the featured soloist performing Rachmaninoff’s  Piano Concerto No. 2. She recently joined us to talk about her career, her upcoming performance and more.

Pianist Barry Douglas has been an star of the international classical music world since 1986, when he won the Gold Medal at the Tchaikovsky International Piano Competition in Moscow.

In addition to a busy touring schedule, Douglas also serves as artistic director of Camerata Ireland, a group which brings together musicians from Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland to celebrate Irish culture.