Cliburn announces Exit Stage Right, a docuseries on its 2025 competition narrated by Jeff Goldblum

The Cliburn announced on November 12, 2026 that it has made Exit Stage Right, a five-part documentary series about the 2025 Van Cliburn International Piano Competition in Fort Worth, Texas. The actor Jeff Goldblum, who is also a jazz pianist and tours with his band, the Mildred Snitzer Orchestra, is the narrator. The series is a production of the Cliburn and Framework Productions, directed by Steven Pierce.

The episodes follow the competition from the opening draw through the preliminary, quarterfinal and semifinal rounds to the final, in which six pianists each played two concertos with the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra under Marin Alsop. Featured competitors include Aristo Sham, Vitaly Starikov, Carter Johnson, Angel Stanislav Wang, Chaeyoung Park and Yanjun Chen.

The series also compares the competition with the touring careers of past winners, among them Beatrice Rana, Haochen Zhang, Yekwon Sunwoo, Olga Kern, Jon Nakamatsu and Anna Geniushene. Other voices include Sir Stephen Hough, Leonard Slatkin, Wu Han, Anne-Marie McDermott, Clive Gillinson of Carnegie Hall and John Gilhooly of Wigmore Hall.

The Cliburn has produced 12 feature-length documentaries about the competition since 1977, and this is its first docuseries. According to the announcement, the series is complete and is seeking distribution.

Source: The Cliburn