Misha Galant
2020 GILMORE YOUNG ARTIST Misha Galant
Misha Galant began piano lessons at the age of six and continued to study for 12 years with his mother, Olya Katsman. His musical heritage includes three generations of pianists, including his great-grandmother, a student of Maria Yudina along with Vladimir Horowitz, and his great-grandfather, who studied with Heinrich Neuhaus in Kiev, Ukraine. Mr. Galant graduated from Columbia University and The Juilliard school with degrees in Data Science and Piano Performance, with a minor in Russian Literature and Culture, and earned a master’s degree at the University of Utah.
Mr. Galant gave his first full solo recital at age 12 and made his orchestral debut at age 13 with the Oakland East Bay Symphony, with which he performed Chopin’s Piano Concerto No. 1. He has since performed with orchestras across the U.S., including the Fort Worth Symphony, Rochester Philharmonic, Utah Symphony, and the California Youth Symphony, with which he subsequently toured Austria and Italy. He has won numerous awards at piano competitions, including multiple prizes in 2015 at the first Cliburn International Junior Piano Competition and at the Eastman Young Artists International Competition, the latter resulting in a four-year, full-tuition scholarship offer to attend the Eastman School of Music. He is a two-time winner of the Music Teachers’ Association of California concerto competition and was inducted into the organization’s selective Young Artist Guild, through which he performs frequently as a recitalist around California.
Mr. Galant is an active chamber musician, and performs benefit concerts for causes he believes in. Most recently, he raised more than $1,000 through performances for Haiti earthquake relief (2021), and more than $8,000 for Ukraine relief (2022).