Houston is about to get a new baton in town, and this one comes with international ambitions.

The Cliburn has announced the launch of the Cliburn International Competition for Conductors.

Classical music cognoscenti might be asking what this has to do with Houston. After all, the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition has long been synonymous with Fort Worth. The answer lies in legacy, logistics, and a bit of full-circle musical fate: Houston is home to a world-class orchestra, a premier music school, and a deep-rooted connection to Van Cliburn himself, who made his orchestral debut here at age 12.

The new program is set to debut in June 2028 in Houston. So there it is.

Open to conductors ages 21 to 35, the competition marks the first major international conducting competition in North America, placing the city on the global podium for emerging musical leadership.

The new initiative is a collaboration between The Cliburn, the Houston Symphony, and the Shepherd School of Music at Rice University. The Houston Symphony will perform with all competitors.

“The event will bring people to Houston from around the world, enhancing our reputation as an international city with a thriving arts and cultural sector,” Gary Ginstling, executive director and CEO of the Houston Symphony, tells CultureMap.

Competition rounds will take place at both the Shepherd School and Jesse H. Jones Hall for the Performing Arts.

“Collaborations like this are central to who we are as a university,” Matthew Loden, dean of the Shepherd School of Music, says. “They build on a deep network of relationships we’ve established with renowned arts organizations in Texas and around the world, and they strengthen the multifaceted programs already in place at Shepherd.

Loden frames Houston — and Texas more broadly — as uniquely positioned to lead in the arts. Often dubbed the Third Coast, he sees the region as more than a participant in the global cultural conversation. Instead, he views Texas as actively shaping a growing center for artistic innovation, making Houston a fitting home for the first major international conducting competition in North America. It’s a point of pride, he notes, but hardly a surprise.

At the helm of the jury will be Marin Alsop, who also conducted the 2022 and 2025 Van Cliburn International Piano Competitions. An artistic advisory committee stacked with conducting prowess will help shape the competition’s structure and repertoire, including former Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra music director Miguel Harth-Bedoya (Shepherd’s resident director of orchestras), current Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra music director Robert Spano, Kent Nagano, Juraj Valčuha (Houston Symphony music director), and Xian Zhang.

Applications will open in October 2026, with submissions due in November 2027. A screening jury will narrow the pool to as many as 25 applicants for live auditions in early 2028, ultimately selecting 12 competitors. All rounds will be open to the public, with tickets going on sale in early 2028, and performances livestreamed to a global audience.

One grand prize winner will receive $50,000, concert engagements, and enhanced career support, while finalists will each earn $20,000.

Building on the Cliburn’s digital reach, more than 100 million video views across 180 countries in recent years, the new competition aims to be a launchpad for the next generation of maestros, with Houston as the overture.