Historic Winners at Cliburn Competition

FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) _ Pianists from Japan and China have won gold medals in the 13th Van Cliburn International Piano Competition, marking the first time that someone from an Asian country has won.

Nobuyuki Tsujii of Japan and 19-year-old Haochen Zhang of China each won gold medals Sunday. Tsujii, 20, also made history as the first blind pianist to win.

Yeol Eum Son, 23, of South Korea won the silver medal. Four of the six finalists were from Asian countries.

All six finalists will receive three years of managed concert tours, worth about $1 million, and each of the top three winners will receive $20,000 and record a CD, among other prizes.

The competition is named for Van Cliburn, the acclaimed pianist from Fort Worth who gained prominence after winning the first Tchaikovsky International Competition in Moscow in 1958.

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