Remembering Van Cliburn

In this unfortunate era of "pop culture", I wonder how many individuals know the name, “Van Cliburn”, the virtuoso pianist who recently passed away at the age of 78, and how many care about the extent to which he enriched our world through his brilliant artistry, albeit for a relatively short period of time.

This extraordinarily talented individual took the world by storm when he won top honors in the inaugural 1958 International Tchaikovsky Piano Competition in Moscow.  The victory was widely seen as an American triumph over the Soviet Union at the height of the Cold War, and it served to pierce the veil that separated us from the Russians as Cliburn was embraced by lovers of classical piano music throughout the world.  Cliburn even warmed the cold heart of Premier Nikita Khrushchev, who provided his imprimatur on awarding the top prize to Cliburn.

Mr. Cliburn returned to a ticker tape parade in New York City, an estimated 100,000 people lining Broadway to cheer him. New York City Mayor Robert Wagner proclaimed at a City Hall ceremony that “with his two hands, Van Cliburn struck a chord which has resounded around the world, raising our prestige with artists and music lovers everywhere”, and he was right. 

Can one imagine 100,000 people crowding the streets to attend a ticker tape parade for a piano virtuoso today, a period in our history in which love and regard for the arts and culture are receding? Sadly, we bestow such an accolade only on football, hockey, and baseball players in 2013.