Classical Musician. His winning the quadrennial International Tchaikovsky Piano Competition in Moscow in 1958, at the height of the Cold War, made him a figure on the world stage and led to a thaw in United States-Soviet Union relations. Founded the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition, a quadrennial competition hosted by the Van Cliburn Foundation, whose prestige now rivals that of the Tchaikovsky Competition. Retired from public life in the 1970s upon the death of his father, but returned to the stage in 1987 to perform for President Ronald Reagan and Soviet president Mikhail Gorbachev, then was invited to open the 100th anniversary season of Carnegie Hall. He played for royalty and heads of state from dozens of countries and for every U.S. President from Dwight D. Eisenhower to Barack Obama.
Classical Musician. His winning the quadrennial International Tchaikovsky Piano Competition in Moscow in 1958, at the height of the Cold War, made him a figure on the world stage and led to a thaw in United States-Soviet Union relations. Founded the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition, a quadrennial competition hosted by the Van Cliburn Foundation, whose prestige now rivals that of the Tchaikovsky Competition. Retired from public life in the 1970s upon the death of his father, but returned to the stage in 1987 to perform for President Ronald Reagan and Soviet president Mikhail Gorbachev, then was invited to open the 100th anniversary season of Carnegie Hall. He played for royalty and heads of state from dozens of countries and for every U.S. President from Dwight D. Eisenhower to Barack Obama.
Bio by: John Andrew Prime
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Van Cliburn
1934 2013
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