Van Cliburn (1934-2013) was an American pianist that was worldwide known because in 1958, when he was 23 years old and in the middle of the Cold War era and its tensions, he won the International Tchaikovsky Piano Competition in Moscow. Moscow was the capital of the Soviet Union, the country that leaded the communist block and that was the US greatest enemy.
The international piano competition was an event designed with the aim of proving the cultural superiority of the Soviet Union, after the very recent victory that the URSS had reached in the space race with the launch of the Sputnik in 1957.
Of course, it would be considered a shame that a foreign artist, and even more an American one, could perform better than the national ones. In fact, the soviet judges asked President Khrushchev if they could give the prize to an American. In this case, prejudices were left apart between two declared enemies, and culture won that night when the prize was given to the best artist, the American pianist.
