Rildia Bee Cliburn

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Rildia Bee O'Brian Cliburn (* 1897 - August 3, 1994 in Fort Worth ) was an American music teacher.

The daughter of an actress and a judge began her musical training in Texas. She then studied at the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music and was a piano student of Arthur Friedheim , a student of Anton Rubinstein and Franz Liszt , at the New York School of Musical Art .

Her parents denied her a career as a concert pianist. She married Harvey Lavan Cliburn , who was a sales rep for an oil company, and worked as a piano teacher in Texas. In 1934 their son Van Cliburn was born. As his sole piano teacher from the age of three to seventeen, she had a decisive influence on his development as a pianist.

As a manager and musical consultant, Rilda Bee Cliburn remained closely connected to her son and his musical career throughout her life. She also set up a foundation to promote young musicians. Van Cliburn canceled a concert at the Metropolitan Opera House when she suffered a stroke in 1994 that left her dead at All Saints Episcopal Hospital in Fort Worth .

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