06/04/2002

By OLIN CHISM / The Dallas Morning News

FORT WORTH – The great German writer Goethe referred to architecture as "frozen music." For Richard Jorgensen, a participant in the Cliburn Amateur, the metaphor is particularly apt. Mr. Jorgensen is an architect as well as musician.

The two art forms share several essentials, he says. There are obvious ones such as balance and form, but architects even speak of the rhythm of a façade. And architecture isn't entirely frozen, if you consider its changing appearance in varying light conditions.

Mr. Jorgensen played music by Schumann and Chopin in the opening session Monday afternoon at Ed Landreth. This is the third edition of the contest and the third time he's competed.

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Details: The Third International Piano Competition for Outstanding Amateurs takes place June 3-8 at Ed Landreth Auditorium, Texas Christian University, University and West Cantey in Fort Worth. Tickets: Complete packages: $105 Semifinals, finals and awards: $60 Individual sessions: $10 for preliminaries, $20 for semifinals and $35 for finals and awards. Call Central Tickets, 817-335-9000 or 1-800-462-7979. Format: Preliminary round (June 3-5): Seventy-five applicants will each present a program not to exceed 12 minutes. • Preliminary round schedule Semifinal round (June 7): Eighteen semifinalists will each present a program not to exceed 20 minutes. Final round (June 8): Six finalists will each present a program not to exceed 30 minutes. Participants The Competitors The Jurors Awards First prize: $2,000 Second prize: $1,000 Third prize: $500 Other prizes: Press jury award; audience award; awards for the best performance of a work from the baroque, classical and romantic eras; best performance of a modern work; most creative programming award; and jury discretionary awards. On the Web Video: Amateurs attracting more attention International Piano Competition for Outstanding Amateurs Cliburn Foundation official site

Like many of the performers, Mr. Jorgensen is a high-achieving professional.

As a boy he intensely enjoyed playing the piano, but his father encouraged him to go into architecture, thinking that it offered better prospects.

Certainly it has worked out. Mr. Jorgensen, who lives in New York, has designed buildings for the city's two major airports and was a major figure in the renovation of Penn Station.

If a career as a performing artist was chancy, consider the possibilities for Mr. Jorgensen's brother, Mike.

He loved baseball and longed for the major leagues. He made it, spending 16 years as a major-league player including a spell with the Texas Rangers.

Mr. Jorgensen says both architecture and music offer emotional fulfillment for him.

"I love the notion of people using the buildings I've designed," he says. Music he sees as a more private art.

E-mail ochism@dallasnews.com