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When acclaimed South African pianist Dr. Pierre van der Westhuizen took over as President of the Cleveland International Piano Competition (CIPC) in 2013, he spearheaded the successful turnaround of the competition; as it now stands as one of the top competitions for pianists in the world. This Thursday, September 15, at 12:30pm in Mixon Hall, Dr. van der Westhuizen will lead a lecture entitled, “Navigating the World of Competitions” open to the 58�Թ��� community.

Dr. van der Westhuizen will address many of the practical hurtles, challenges and opportunities of participating in the competition circuit—a route that many 58�Թ��� students take both during their time at 58�Թ��� and after graduation. This year, 58�Թ��� alums Tomer Gewirtzman (MM ’15, Babayan) and Shen Lu (AD ’16, Paik) and current students Sara Daneshpour (Babayan) and Ruoyu Huang (Babayan) participated in the 2016 CIPC. Dr. van der Westhuizen will share his unique perspective as both a renowned musician, who’s participated in many competitions, and as the leader and juror of such a prestigious international competition.

The lecture is free and open to the public.