Park University student wins prestigious American Pianists Award in Indianapolis

On Sunday, pianist Kenny Broberg walked on the Grand Hall stage and bowed in front of an applauding audience at the Indiana Landmarks Center. The 27-year-old Park University graduate student played the Dante Sonata by Liszt on the grand piano. His head swayed and nodded as his fingers danced through the notes by memory.

His performance earned him the top honor in the 2021 American Pianists Awards.

“I’m very excited,” he said in an interview with the association after the announcement. “You can never really tell how a competition’s going to turn out.”

As the winner, Broberg receives a $50,000 fellowship, in addition to the $50,000 that each of the five finalists received because the competition was postponed for a year due to the pandemic. He also will perform worldwide and receive career assistance for two years, an in-residence post at the University of Indianapolis and a recording contract with the Steinway & Sons record label.

“Hopefully I will be playing a lot more concerts in the near future and I’ll be on stage a lot more,” Broberg said.

The graduate student in Park University’s International Center for Music is one of the best young classical pianists in the world. He won the bronze medal at the 2019 International Tchaikovsky Competition and the silver medal at the 2017 Van Cliburn International Piano Competition.

To honor Broberg’s achievement, the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts and Kansas City City Hall are lighting their buildings in Park University’s official colors, burgundy and gold.

Winning “means a lot,” Broberg said. “I’ve come close to winning a lot of times, so it feels good to get one.”

This story was originally published June 28, 2021 at 4:35 PM with the headline "Park University student wins prestigious American Pianists Award in Indianapolis."