It was worth the schedule change, or so the audience seemed to believe. The solo recital performance of 2008 Piano Texas headliner Olga Kern was rescheduled after a tweak to the festival schedule, but the 2001 Cliburn Competition winner did not disappoint.

To a sold-out PepsiCo Recital Hall in mid-June, Kern showed mastery of Scarlatti, Chopin and Rachmaninoff sonatas and Liszt’s Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2. After two dozen chairs were put on the stage, the crowd filled into the balcony. Even legendary pianist Van Cliburn attended.

The Star-Telegram review called her performance “astute and exciting.” Kern was a full participant this year, the festival’s 27th, as both a recitalist and faculty member. Other distinguished guest artists included Peter Donohoe, Antti Siirala, Malcolm Bilson, Joseph Kalichstein and The Calder Quartet and Harold Martina.

The festival’s local highlight was the amateurs and young artists’ performances with the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra.