In their first year serving as a for the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition, Jeff and Rosemary Detweiler got lucky: They were matched with .
They had a front-row seat to the meteoric rise of the Korean pianist as he won gold and, at age 18, became the youngest winner in the . On Oct. 26, will have the opportunity to sit with the host family at the North American debut of the competition documentary, 鈥淐rescendo.鈥�
鈥淲hen they鈥檙e presenting the medals, it was just this gigantic explosion of emotions,鈥� Jeff Detweiler said. 鈥淲hen you see the documentary, you鈥檒l see Rosemary and I, we really kind of lost it 鈥� it was super exciting.鈥�
If you go
What: North American premiere of 2022 Cliburn Competition documentary 鈥淐rescendo鈥漌hen: 7 p.m. Oct. 26Where: Van Cliburn Concert Hall at Texas Christian University
2900 W. Lowden St.
Fort WorthTickets: Tickets are free but required for admission. Reserve yours
The competition is akin to the , Cliburn CEO Jacques Marquis previously told the Report. Nearly 400 musicians from 51 countries applied, but only 72 advanced to the screening auditions in Fort Worth.
Thirty musicians were invited back to Texas for the competition, and those who did advance faced a packed schedule of concerts, events and hours of practice.
The Detweilers were impressed by Lim鈥檚 ability to focus, regularly practicing from around 1 or 2 in the afternoon until about 4 in the morning.
鈥淗e鈥檚 really totally devoted to the music. He doesn鈥檛 have a massive ego that needs to be massaged. He is very humble and practices really, really hard,鈥� Jeff said. 鈥淗e just goes and goes.鈥�
Beyond the pressures inside the competition, life carried on. Dmytro Choni鈥檚 home country of Ukraine remained under attack, second-place winner Anna Geniushene had one baby at home and another on the way 鈥� 鈥淐rescendo鈥� explores those complexities too.
The Detweilers are looking forward to returning to Texas Christian University鈥檚 Van Cliburn Concert Hall once again to attend the premiere.
Though it鈥檚 been more than a year since Lim鈥檚 win, the family remains in touch. They have traveled to Paris and New York for his concerts and have plans to attend more.
鈥淚t was one of the best things I鈥檝e ever done in my whole life,鈥� Rosemary Detweiler said. 鈥淚t was a lot of work, but it was fantastic.鈥�
Marcheta Fornoff covers the arts for the Fort Worth Report. Contact her at marcheta.fornoff@fortworthreport.org or on . At the Fort Worth Report, news decisions are made independently of our board members and financial supporters. Read more about our editorial independence policy .
This first appeared on and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.
