I’m currently watching the Cliburn Junior Piano Competition. I am not a huge fan of competitions — I believe I’ve mentioned that before — but I love watching and hearing these young music makers so much. They are pretty amazing. It’s not just that they play the notes … they play music!

Music is so much more than the notes. It’s the story one is telling. It’s line. It’s color. Without expression I couldn’t care less. These young players make me care.

What will be quite telling is the finalists, who perform with an orchestra. That can really be a challenge Making music on one’s own is different than working with an ensemble. (But hey, they don’t have to think about intonation or reeds!)

If you start with the link below you’ll hear all in the preliminary round, as it goes through the full playlist:

And here is the start of the quarterfinals: