For nearly two weeks now, Fort Worth's Bass Hall has played host to some of the world's most elite competitive pianists between the ages of 18 and 30. I haven't seen any blood, but buckets of sweat and I'm sure more than a few tears have been shed during the fiercely competitive first two rounds of the 14th Van Cliburn International Piano Competition.
Eighteen of the 30 pianists who began the competition were eliminated after the first round of the Cliburn last week. Last night, around midnight, the 12 remaining semi-finalists were whittled down to a final group of six.