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Presidential Medal of Freedom Recipient Van Cliburn
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Presidential Medal of Freedom Recipient Van Cliburn
(Harvey Lavan Cliburn, Jr.)
Born: 7/12/34
Birthplace: Shreveport, Louisiana
Pianist known for his outstanding technique and his interpretation of works by Romantic composers. In 1958, he became the first American to win the International Tchaikovsky Prize.
VAN CLIBURN
Awarded by
President George W. Bush
July 18, 2003
With his historic victory in the first Tchaikovsky International Piano Competition in Moscow at the age of 23, Van Cliburn earned worldwide acclaim and helped shatter cultural barriers at the height of the Cold War. With his talent, he has delighted audiences throughout the world with masterful performances as a concert pianist. His deep commitment to the development of young artists is epitomized by the work of the Van Cliburn Foundation and the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition. The United States honors this skilled musician for his contributions to the arts and to our Nation.
Mrs. Bush and President Bush attend the Kennedy Center Honors Show Dec. 2. The event celebrated the artistic contributions of five artists: Julie Andrews, Van Cliburn, Luciano Pavarotti, Quincy Jones and Jack Nicholson.
This isn't Van Cliburn's first visit to the White House, Music in the White House during the administrations of Presidents Nixon and Ford reflected a wide segment of American culture. The birthday dinner and Medal of Freedom presentation to Duke Ellington turned into a massive jam session with jazz luminaries. President and Mrs. Ford were especially successful in matching the musical programs to the interests of the many heads of state who visited the United States. For the blues loving French president Giscard d'Estang, Earl Hines performed and Van Cliburn interpreted Chopin, Schuman and Debussy during the first White House entertainment for a reigning Japanese emperor.
Biography
Van Cliburn - Classical Pianist of Our Time Perhaps you've learned about Beethoven and Bach, Mozart or Tchaikovsky and enjoyed their great contributions to our world's history of music. You can thank your interest in classical music to people like Mr. Van Cliburn, who shares his love of classical music by giving attention and support to it.
Mr. Van Cliburn is a classical pianist who brought honor to our country in 1958 when he won the 1st Tchaikovsky International Piano Competition in Moscow. Americans beamed with pride to see a young performer from our country play with such skill and style in front of an international audience. His dedication and talent drew admiration for classical music at a time when the space rocket Sputnik had focused many on science and competition between the United States and the Soviet Union was strong. How did such a young man become such an skillful musician?
Van Cliburn was born in Shreveport, Louisiana on July 12, 1934, the son of Harvey Lavan Cliburn and Rildia (Ril-da) Bee O'Bryan Cliburn. He began studying piano with his mother at age three. She had studied under Arthur Friedheim, a student of Franz Liszt, teachers well known for their talent and skill.
Mr. Cliburn moved to Texas when he was six years old, and won a Texas competition when he was twelve. In 1948 he played in the prestigious Carnegie Hall as the winner of the National Music Festival Award.
When he was 17, Van Cliburn went to Julliard, a school for outstanding performers. Within the three years he attended this school he won four more competitions. These successes gave him the experience needed to perform so well at the international, or worldwide level.
Six months after the launch of Sputnik propelled the world into the space age, Mr. Cliburn won the Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow, proving the power of the arts to bring unity even in the midst of strong rivalry. A famous American tradition, the tickertape parade, was held in New York City to honor Van Cliburn's accomplishment.
His talent drew interest to classical music around the world. His recording of the Tchaikovsky Concerto No. 1 went platinum, selling over 1.000,000 copies! He decided to use his skill and fame to support other young musicians through the Van Cliburn International Music Competition, begun in 1962. This competition is held in Fort Worth every four years and draws worldwide attention as pianists from many countries come here to compete for prizes which will advance their careers as musicians. This competition draws international attention to young musicians, bringing interest and support to classical music. Mr. Cliburn has generously devoted his time and talent to promote classical music in our time, and for generations to come.
Van Cliburn International Competition
Every four years, Fort Worth, Texas, becomes the capital of the piano world with the running of the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition. Founded in 1962 by a group of music teachers and enthusiasts to honor a fellow Texan and America’s most renowned pianist, the Cliburn Competition has steadily grown into one of the major musical events around the globe.
From hundreds of hopefuls who apply for acceptance in the Cliburn, only a select number are invited to Fort Worth to take part in a grueling round of eliminations that little-by-little narrows the field to a half-dozen pianists. In the early rounds, each competitor is required to play full-length recitals and chamber music, and each finalist performs a pair of concertos with orchestra before the medals and one of the
richest line-up of prizes in any competition are awarded prizes that include not only cash, but recital and orchestral engagements world-wide during a period of two years, recordings with major labels and repeated television exposure through documentaries and recitals.
But the true value of any contest is calculated not in dollars but in its winners, and through the years the Cliburn has nurtured such leading keyboard figures as Steven De Groote, Barry Douglas, José Feghali, Radu Lupu, Minoru Nojima, Cristina Ortiz, André-Michel Schub, Alexander Toradze, Vladimir Viardo, and Christian Zacharias, among others. This series of retrospective recordings from VAI captures these gold, silver and bronze winners in contests past through live performances taped during the heat of competing and drawn from the Cliburn’s archives. Chamber music, though not reflected in this series, is also a feature of the Cliburn. This requirement was added at the specific request of Cliburn himself, who felt that it would provide a sort of musical litmus test to detect aspects of a pianist’s talent that might not emerge
otherwise.
Because the Cliburn is geared to launching careers instead of merely extending a helping hand, it eventually reached the mature decision to do away with specific repertory requirements. This allowed pianists to perform music with which they were the most comfortable and in which they felt they excelled. The directors of the competition were wise enough to realize that a great deal could be learned about a performer by how he chose to present himself or herself. Today, the one exception to this rule is the commissioned work required of each competitor. Through the years, the composers of this special
piece have amounted to a "Who’s Who" of modern American music, from Samuel Barber and Aaron Copland to William Schuman and Leonard Bernstein.
1997 marked the tenth edition of the Cliburn, and the tenth time the city of Fort Worth celebrated the act of making music by the musicians of tomorrow. The sense of adventure that permeates the city every four years is like a fever, as the excitement mounts and peaks in the naming of a new set of medalists. This is the end result for which so many work for so long and with such extraordinary devotion.
André-Michel Schub, born in France and raised in New York, came to the Cliburn’s Gold Medal after winning two other major awards: the Naumberg International Piano Competition in 1977 and the Avery Fisher Recital Award in 1981. He continues to be a strong presence on the American and European music scene, appearing regularly each season with major orchestras and conductors. He also tours annually in duo-recitals with violinist Cho-Liang Lin. He has appeared on PBS television in "Live from
Lincoln Center" and recorded extensively for Sony Records. Since 1997 he has been artistic director of the Virginia Waterfront International Arts Festival.
The only time in the history of the Cliburn Competition that a medal was split between two pianists was in 1981 when the Silver Medals went to both Santiago Rodriguez and Panayis Lyras. Rodriguez, born in Cuba and trained in the United States, has appeared in recent seasons most prominently with Philadelphia Orchestra and in recital at the Ravenna Festival in Italy. He has also become artist-in residence at the University of Maryland and has served as president of the jury for the
William Kapell Competition.
In addition to his Cliburn prize, Lyras was also the Silver Medalist in the Arthur Rubinstein International Piano Competition in Israel and first-prize winner in the Gina Bachauer International Competition. In
1989 he became artist-in-residence at Jordan College of Fine Arts at the Butler University in Indianapolis. He has recorded for several labels, and is a regular guest with leading orchestras in America and abroad.
John Ardoin is music critic of the Dallas Morning News and author of The Callas Legacy and The Furtwängler Record. He has attended all or part of every Cliburn Competition except for the first.
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Medal History
