CIPC, July 31

You have to be quiet backstage during a piano competition. No jokes, no tap dancing in the hallways. Complete attention must be paid even backstage, as the audience does out front, as five pianists performed in the afternoon and four in the evening sessions on the first day of the Cleveland International Piano Competition. The broadcast booth at the Cleveland Museum of Art's Gartner Auditorium is sandwiched between the recording operation and the Greenroom, where pianists warm-up at the grand piano, change their clothes, and grab some snacks.