Since the Cliburn Competition's inception in 1962, winners have consistently ranked among the leading concert artists, conductors, teachers, and administrators of their day. A close examination of the depth and diversity of the individual and collective accomplishments of these outstanding artists helps to expand our traditional definition of success as it applies to forging a career in classical music.
The following biographical information is based on responses to a survey sent to all past Cliburn winners in 2005. For current activities and additional material, visit individual artist and/or management websites as indicated.
First Van Cliburn International Piano Competition (1962)
- Ralph Votapek, USA
- Nikolai Petrov, USSR
- Mikhail Voskresensky, USSR
- Cécile Ousset, France
- Marilyn Neeley, USA
- Sergio Varella-Cid, Portugal
- Arthur Fennimore, USA
- Takashi Hironaka, Japan
Second Van Cliburn International Piano Competition (1966)
- Radu Lupu, Rumania
- Barry Snyder, USA
- Blanca Uribe, Colombia
- Maria Luisa Lopez-Vito, Philippines
- Rudolf Buchbinder, Austria
- Benedikt Köhlen, Germany
Third Van Cliburn International Piano Competition (1969)
- Cristina Ortiz, Brazil
- Minoru Nojima, Japan
- Mark Westcott, USA
- Gerald Robbins, USA
- Diane Walsh, USA
- Michiko Fujinuma, Japan
Fourth Van Cliburn International Piano Competition (1973)
- Vladimir Viardo, USSR
- Christian Zacharias, Germany
- Michael Houston, New Zealand
- Alberto Reyes, Uruguay
- Evgenii Korolev, USSR
- Krassimir Gatev, Bulgaria
Fifth Van Cliburn International Piano Competition (1977)
- Steven De Groote, South Africa
- Alexander Toradze, USSR
- Jeffrey Swann, USA
- (tied) Christian Blackshaw, United Kingdom; Michel Dalberto, France
- (tied) Ian Hobson, United Kingdom; Alexander Mndoyants, USSR
Sixth Van Cliburn International Piano Competition (1981)
- André-Michel Schub, USA
- (tied) Panayis Lyras, USA; Santiago Rodriguez, USA
- Jeffrey Kahane, USA
- Christopher O'Riley, USA
- Daming Zhu, People's Republic of China
Seventh Van Cliburn International Piano Competition (1985)
- José Feghali, Brazil
- Philippe Bianconi, France
- Barry Douglas, United Kingdom
- Emma Tahmizií n, Bulgaria
- Károly Mocsári, Hungary
- Hans-Christian Wille, West Germany
Eighth Van Cliburn International Piano Competition (1989)
- Alexei Sultanov, USSR
- José Carlos Cocarelli, Brazil
- Benedetto Lupo, Italy
- Alexander Shtarkman, USSR
- Tian Ying, People's Republic of China
- Elisso Bolkvadze, USSR
Ninth Van Cliburn International Piano Competition (1993)
- Simone Pedroni, Italy
- Valery Kuleshov, Russia
- Christopher Taylor, USA
- Johan Schmidt, Belgium
- Armen Babakhanian, Armenia
- Fabio Bidini, Italy
Tenth Van Cliburn International Piano Competition (1997)
- Jon Nakamatsu, USA
- Yakov Kasman, Russia
- Aviram Reichert, Israel
- Finalists: Filippo Gamba, Italy; Jan Gottlieb Jiracek, Germany; Katia Skanavi, Russia
Eleventh Van Cliburn International Piano Competition (2001)
- (tied) Stanislav Ioudenitch, Uzbekistan; Olga Kern, Russia
- (tied) Maxim Philippov, Russia; Antonio Pompa-Baldi, Italy
- Finalists: Alexey Koltakov, Ukraine; Wang Xiaohan, China
Twelfth Van Cliburn International Piano Competition (2005)
- Alexander Kobrin, Russia
- Joyce Yang, South Korea
- Sa Chen, China
Finalists: Davide Cabassi, Italy; Chu-Fang Huang, China; Roberto Plano, Italy
