Van Cliburn, a lanky 23-year-old Texan, took the world by storm when he won the first Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow in 1958, at the height of the Cold War. Cliburn’s victory instilled tremendous pride in Americans, while opening the door to a new era of cultural relations between the Soviet Union and the United States years ahead of glasnost and perestroika. Van Cliburn performed on the Lane Series in December 1962. 

The Van Cliburn International Piano Competition, held every four years, was established to perpetuate Cliburn’s unique legacy and to create unprecedented opportunities for the extraordinary young pianists from around the world who qualify.

The UVM Lane Series is one of the first presenters in the US to feature the top award winners of the VCIPC every four years. Our audiences have had the joy of hearing artists who have gone on to significant international fame, right at the beginning of their careers. Evren Ozel is this year’s bronze medalist, and the silver and gold winners will visit us in the spring.

“Musicians have only to express the feelings, the atmospheres, the meanings that exist within the pieces we play...As pianists, our possibilities are endless, and it is a delight to explore everything that the world of piano music presents.” – Evren Ozel

At the age of three, Evren Ozel was asked if he wanted to take lessons, and he said yes. Right away, these lessons were his favorite part of the week. “If I got in trouble with my mom, the threat that would set me straight was the threat of taking me out of piano lessons.” After his first international piano competition when he was fourteen, he was inspired to pursue music professionally. “The colleagues I met who shared an interest in playing music, and the immense repertoire that I learned about over those two weeks helped me understand what an incredibly deep and enriching world that pianists live in.” He’s attended the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston since 2017, studying with Wha Kyung Byun and earning his bachelor’s, master’s, and artist diploma; he is now part of the NEC Institute for Concert Artists. 

Evren is the recipient of 2023 Avery Fisher and 2022 Salon de Virtuosi Career Grants, and a laureate of the Cleveland, Dublin, and Cooper International Piano Competitions. He has been represented by Concert Artists Guild since 2021 as a winner of their Victor Elmaleh Competition. Since his debut with the Minnesota Orchestra at age eleven, he has been a featured soloist with the Cleveland Orchestra, Jacksonville Symphony, and Boston Pops Orchestra. He’s performed recitals at La Jolla Music Society, Capital Region Classical, Cal Performances, Schubert Club, Chopin Society of Minnesota, and The Gilmore.  His first album of Mozart Concertos with the ORF Radio Symphony of Vienna and conductor Howard Griffiths will be released this year on Alpha Classics.  An active chamber musician, he performs alongside artists including Stella Chen, Zlatomir Fung, Paul Huang, and Kim Kashkashian.  He spent four summers at the Marlboro Festival and is currently a 2024–2027 Bowers Program Artist for the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center.