Harrison Benford, 17, named Rubato Competition semifinalist

Harrison Benford, a rising senior at Winston Churchill High School, has been named an official semifinalist in The Rubato International Piano Competition, a seven-day competition that will be held in Oxford, Alabama from August 8-13. The competition will be professionally juried by Steinway Hall of Fame artists and experienced judges from the prestigious Van Cliburn International Piano Competition including Drs. Yakov Kasman, Luis Sanchez and Janet Landreth. Each competitor will participate in a master class with all three judges and there are special events scheduled throughout the week-long experience, which culminates in a Semifinal Concert on Friday and a Finals Concert on Saturday.

Harrison studies with Nancy O’Neill Breth in Washington, DC and credits his six years under her guidance with transforming his development as a musician and a human being. In 2022, Harrison was awarded first prize at the Lichtenberg, Gottlieb, and Hungarian Music Piano Competitions and, with duet partner Nathan Shan, won the prestigious Misbin Award at the Misbin Family Memorial Chamber Music Competition. Pianist Brian Ganz called him “a true artist” with “an enormous imagination and constant alertness for nuance.” In recent years, Harrison won both First and Audience Prizes in the HeartOut International Piano Competition; Enrique Graf lauded his “very mature playing with deep understanding and feeling – every piece is played in style and convincingly.” Harrison also placed first in notable regional events including both the Novik and Brown Piano Concerto Competitions, Northern Virginia’s District Auditions and Piano Achievement Awards, and the AAMS International Competition.

The biggest joy in Harrison’s life to date has been working collaboratively with other musicians at summer music intensives including Tanglewood, Indiana University’s Piano Academy, Point CounterPoint, Greenwood, and Interlochen. Outside of music, Harrison is finishing his fifth year of Mandarin study and is nationally ranked in both QuizBowl and tournament Scrabble, being named one of the top ten youth players in North America in 2022.

For updates and more information, visit the Rubato International Piano Competition.