Commissions
The creation of new music for the piano is an important part of The Gilmore’s overall mission. Nearly every Gilmore International Piano Festival includes the premiere of a newly commissioned work for the piano. Many of the new works are a result of Gilmore Artists and Gilmore Young Artists Award funds and have been commissioned by the artists themselves, or in collaboration with other artists or institutions. The Gilmore itself has also partnered with several organizations, including Lincoln Center and Carnegie Hall, to commission important new works for the piano. Listed below are the compositions commissioned since the first Festival in 1991.
Carl Vine
Composer
Gothic Fantasy
Commissioned by Janice Carissa (2022 Gilmore Young Artist)
Lowell Liebermann
Composer
Three Dances from Frankenstein, Op. 140, for piano solo
Commissioned by Maxim Lando (2020 Gilmore Young Artist)
Matthew Aucoin
Composer
The tracks have vanished
Commissioned for Kirill Gerstein (2010 Gilmore Artist)
premier delayed
Tyshawn Sorey
Composer
For Arthur Jafa
Commissioned for Conor Hanick and Sandbox Percussion
Andrius Žlabys
Composer
Echoes of Light
Commissioned for Sergei Babayan
Marc-André Hamelin
Composer
Suite à l’ancienne (Suite in the old style)
Commissioned by Rachel Naomi Kudo (2008 Gilmore Young Artist)
Michael Brown
Composer
Concerto No. 1 for Piano and Strings
Co-commissioned by the Gilmore Keyboard Festival
and NFM Leopoldinum Orchestra in Wroclaw, Poland
Marc Neikrug
Composer
Poems for Piano Solo
Commissioned for Wei Luo (2018 Gilmore Young Artist)
John Supko
Composer
One Hundred Thousand Billion Pieces for Piano and Computer
Commissioned for Conrad Tao, (2012 Gilmore Young Artist)
Felipe Lara
Composer
Injust Intonations (#BlackLivesMatter)
Commissioned for Conrad Tao, (2012 Gilmore Young Artist)
Stephen Hough
Composer
Piano Sonata No. 4 (Vida Breve)
Commissioned for Micah McLaurin, (2016 Gilmore Young Artist)
Michel Legrand
Composer
Concerto for Piano and Orchestra
Commissioned for Kalamazoo Symphony Orchestra
Co-commissioned by Bell’s Brewery
Matthew Aucoin
Composer
Concerto for Piano and Orchestra
Michael Gordon
Composer
Ode to La Bruja, Hanon, Czerny, Van Cliburn and little gold stars…(or, To Everyone Who Made My Life Miserable, Thank You.), for six pianos
Commissioned for Grand Band
Co-commissioned by Bell’s Brewery
Alexander Goehr
Composer
Variations (Homage to Haydn), Op. 93
Commissioned for Kirill Gerstein (2010 Gilmore Artist)
Co-commissioned by Kirill Gerstein (2010 Gilmore Artist)
Timo Andres
Composer
Old Friend
Commissioned for Kirill Gerstein (2010 Gilmore Artist)
Co-commissioned by Kirill Gerstein (2010 Gilmore Artist)
Brad Mehldau
Composer
Variations on a Melancholy Theme
Commissioned for Kirill Gerstein (2010 Gilmore Artist)
Co-commissioned by Kirill Gerstein (2010 Gilmore Artist)
Chick Corea
Composer
The Visitors, for piano and vibraphone
Commissioned for Kirill Gerstein (2010 Gilmore Artist)
Co-commissioned by Berklee College of Music, The Fine Family Foundation, Karlsons & Associates, LLC, Tom and Donna Lambert, and Peter and Libby Seaver in memory of Patricia Holmes Clark.
Michael Daugherty
Composer
Everybody’s Got the Right
Commissioned for Anthony de Mare’s Liaisons: Re-Imagining Sondheim from the Piano project
Mason Bates
Composer
Devil’s Radio
Commissioned for Yuja Wang (2006 Gilmore Young Artist)
Fred Hersch
Composer
Variations on a Theme by Tchaikovsky
Commissioned for Natasha Paremski (2006 Gilmore Young Artist)
Oliver Knussen
Composer
Ophelia’s Last Dance
Commissioned for Kirill Gerstein (2010 Gilmore Artist)
Co-commissioned by Russell Gabier Fund
Nico Muhly
Composer
Drones & Piano
Commissioned for Bruce Brubaker
Co-commissioned by Joan Sharda
Richard Danielpour
Composer
Fantasy for Piano
Commissioned for Adam Golka (2008 Gilmore Young Artist)
Yevgeniy Sharlat
Composer
Sonata (2008)
Commissioned for Christopher Falzone (2004 Gilmore Young Artist)
Frederick Rzewski
Composer
Natural Things, for piano and chamber ensemble
Commissioned for Opus 21
Co-commissioned by Opus 21 and Carnegie Hall
Carl Vine
Composer
3rd Piano Sonata
Commissioned for Elizabeth Schumann (2004 Gilmore Young Artist)
Co-commissioned by Australian Arts Council & The Colburn School
Elliott Carter
Composer
Intermittences
Commissioned for Peter Serkin
Co-commissioned by Carnegie Hall
Curtis Curtis-Smith
Composer
Concerto for violin, piano, and strings
Commissioned for Ralf Gothóni & Elina Vahälä / Kalamazoo Symphony Orchestra
Co-commissioned by Kuopio Symphony Orchestra (Finland) and an anonymous local donor
Richard Adams
Composer
Tandem Voices, for two pianos & percussion ensemble
Commissioned for Kalamazoo Symphony Orchestra; Lori Sims & Silvia Roederer
Co-commissioned by Kalamazoo Symphony Orchestra & the Western Michigan University Centennial Committee
Derek Bermel, William Bolcom, C. Curtis-Smith, David Del Tredici, Lukas Foss, Ralf Gothóni, Fred Hersch, Jennifer Higdon, Fred Lerdahl, Bright Sheng, Stanley Walden, Mischa Sarche Zupko
Composers
Thirteen Ways of Looking at The Goldberg, Variations on the Aria from the J.S. Bach Goldberg Variations
Commissioned for Gilbert Kalish
Bruce Brubaker
Composer
PIANOMorphosis, a multi-disciplinary recital, with music by John Adams and Philip Glass
Commissioned for Bruce Brubaker
Co-commissioned by Steinway Piano
Basil Twist
Puppet Artist
Basil Twist’s Petrushka, a puppet version of the Stravinsky ballet, set for two pianos
Commissioned for Basil Twist
Co-commissioned by Lincoln Center and the Walker Art Institute
Louis Andriessen, Milton Babbitt, Elliott Carter, Chen Yi, Hannibal, John Harbison, Wolfgang Rihm, Frederic Rzewski, Tan Dun and Ellen Taaffe Zwilich
Composers
The Carnegie Hall Millennium Piano Book
Commissioned for Ursula Oppens
Co-commissioned by Carnegie Hall
Michael Daugherty
Composer
Route 66, for orchestra
Commissioned for Detroit Symphony Orchestra
Co-commissioned by The National Endowment for the Arts
Daniel Kellogg
Composer
Momentum
Commissioned for Hsing-ay Hsu (1998 Gilmore Young Artist)
Peter Lieberson
Composer
Garland
Commissioned for Peter Serkin
Ned Rorem
Composer
Piano Concerto No. 4, for left hand and orchestra
Commissioned for Kalamazoo Symphony Orchestra / Gary Graffman
Co-commissioned by Curtis Institute (Stockton Rush Bartol Foundation) & the National Endowment for the Arts
Ramon Zupko
Composer
Fluxus No. 9, for piano and tape
Commissioned for Abraham Stockman
Curtis Curtis-Smith
Composer
Concerto for left hand and orchestra
Commissioned for Kalamazoo Symphony Orchestra / Leon Fleisher