Calling All Cliburn Memories: We’d Love to Hear From You!

—Jan Farrington

Who out there has memories from earlier Van Cliburn competitions? We’d be very glad to hear from you about your adventures and recollections.

Please send us an email at: onstagentx@gmail.com 

My earliest memories date to 1961 or so, when I heard there would be young pianists (and Van himself) in Fort Worth for the very first Van Cliburn competition in ‘62. My own piano lessons had already fizzled out; books always had more appeal. But my parents owned plenty of pop-classical LPs (that’s a long-playing disc/album of music, for you youngsters), including a couple that featured the young Cliburn.

This was a big deal, even to a little Fort Worthian.

Neighbors down the street hosted a young French pianist, Catherine Silie, during the 1966 competition. They had a grand piano that filled most of their small living room, and that was a requirement. We took Catherine to church with us; her English was way better than my French. She didn’t make it all the way—but when last I checked, she’d had a long career, and still was concertizing and teaching in France.

TCU’s Ed Landreth Hall was where the first rounds were held for years, and often Cliburn could be spotted in the auditorium. One morning, I pulled up at a lobby water fountain behind a man already getting a drink. When he stood up and turned around, it was Van, in a dark suit, with those hands—those oversized, beautiful, long-fingered hands—right there in front of me.

I babbled, of course, and missed my chance to say anything he hadn’t heard a thousand times before. But he was so nice about it, and walked off with a smile.

In 2013 I was writing for the performing arts site TheaterJones.com (sadly lost in the pandemic), and was assigned to do some “color” features for the 14th Cliburn competition, and edit copy for our music critic.

It was a blast. By then I’d semi-retired from journalism, and this gave me a chance to do fun interviews and search for stories. I’d been studying Italian, and tried it out (badly) on some of my favorite 2013 competitors, including dynamic Allesandro Deljavan and the terrific silver medalist, Beatrice Rana.

But that’s quite enough from me.

What do YOU remember from the past 15 Cliburn competitions?

We’re itching to know! Again, send emails to: onstagentx@gmail.com