At the age of 23, Cliburn achieved worldwide recognition when he won the inaugural International Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow in 1958 during the Cold War.

[2] Cliburn's mother, a piano teacher and an accomplished pianist in her own right, discovered him playing at age three, mimicking one of her students, and arranged for him to start taking lessons.

[7] He entered the Juilliard School in New York City at 17[7] and studied under Rosina Lhévinne,[7] who trained him in the tradition of the great Russian romantics.

The first International Tchaikovsky Competition in 1958 was an event designed to demonstrate Soviet cultural superiority during the Cold War after the USSR's technological victory with the Sputnik launch in October 1957.

When it was time to announce the winner, the judges felt obliged to ask permission of the Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev to give the first prize to an American.

Because I believe so much in the beauty, the construction, the architecture invisible, the importance for all generations, for young people to come that it will help their minds, develop their attitudes, and give them values.

Under the leadership of Grace Ward Lankford and with the dedicated efforts of local music teachers and volunteers, the first Van Cliburn International Piano Competition was held from September 24 to October 7, 1962, at Texas Christian University in Fort Worth.

In a 1962 Moscow appearance, Nikita Khrushchev, who met Cliburn again on this visit,[11] and Andrei Gromyko, the Soviet Foreign Minister, were "spotted in the audience applauding enthusiastically".

[21] According to The Wall Street Journal, "Mr. Cliburn's affection for the Soviet people—and theirs for him—was notable in its warmth during a prolonged period of superpower strain.

2 with Kondrashin and the Moscow orchestra, as well as a studio recording of Rachmaninoff's Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini, were later issued on CD by RCA Victor.

That same year Cliburn performed the National Anthem along with the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra at the First Official Opening Day at Choctaw Stadium.

[citation needed] Also in 1994, Cliburn made a guest appearance in the cartoon Iron Man, playing himself in the episode "Silence My Companion, Death My Destination".

[citation needed] Cliburn appeared as a Pennington Great Performers series artist with the Baton Rouge Symphony Orchestra in 2006.

In 2006, he performed at Interlochen Center for the Arts, spending two hours talking to the students afterwards and signing their programs while many waited at a reception at the school's president's house.

[27] In the suit, Zaremba claimed entitlement to a portion of Cliburn's income and assets and asserted that he might have been exposed to HIV, causing emotional distress.

"[33] On August 27, 2012, Cliburn's publicist announced that the pianist had advanced bone cancer, had undergone treatment and was "resting comfortably at home" in Fort Worth, where he received around-the-clock care.

[37] His services were held on March 3, 2013, at the Broadway Baptist Church, with entombment at Greenwood Memorial Park Mausoleum in Fort Worth.

[13] The Wall Street Journal said on his death that Cliburn was a "cultural hero" who "rocketed to unheard-of stardom for a classical musician in the U.S."[2] Calling him "the rare classical musician to enjoy rock star status", the Associated Press on his death noted the 1958 Time cover story that likened him to "Horowitz, Liberace, and Presley all rolled into one".

[15] A year after Cliburn's death, a free anniversary concert was held on February 27, 2014, in his honor in downtown Fort Worth.

"[39] Mark MacNamara of the San Francisco Classical Voice wrote: "The 6-foot 4-inch aw-shucks kid from Shreveport was 23, the son of an oil executive and a Juilliard graduate, and by all accounts didn't have a mean bone in his body.

Lisa McCormick, writing in Sage Journals (2009), explains the competition this way: Founded in 1958, the Cliburn is held every four years and is open to pianists between the ages of 18 and 30.

Through screening auditions held in five cities around the world, 35 pianists are chosen to participate in the competition in Fort Worth, Texas, where their performances are open to the public and judged by a distinguished international jury.

(Sage Journals 2009)For many young pianists, Cliburn is not only a symbol of talent and inspiration, but a friend to the arts that shows how appreciation for music is powerful, and his impact on the tensions of the Cold War was certainly one of distinct and unique merit.