Take a look at the 2024 Gilmore International Piano Festival by the numbers.
December 19, 2023
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We took some time to tally up all the statistics for the 2024 Piano Festival, just announced on November 17, and the numbers are amazing. Here’s a full look at what the 17th biennial Irving S. Gilmore International Piano Festival has in store for Kalamazoo and beyond between April 24 and May 12, 2024.
AT A GLANCE
- 22 days of programming
- 100+ performances and events
- 200+ musicians, including nearly 100 traveling from out of state or out of the country
- 26 venues from Benton Harbor to Jackson, including Battle Creek, East Lansing, Grand Rapids, Kalamazoo, Marshall, Richland, Saugatuck, South Haven, and St. Joseph
- A wide variety of art forms and musical genres: classical, jazz, pop, indie rock, world music, fusion, musical theater, musical improvisation, movement, and film
HIGHLIGHTS
- 44 pianists
- 15 artists making their Gilmore debut
- 13 concerts livestreamed, with virtual tickets sold on a name-your-own-price basis
- 12 concerts presented in collaboration with community partners including six symphony orchestras: Grand Rapids Symphony, Kalamazoo Symphony Orchestra, Jackson Symphony Orchestra, Lansing Symphony Orchestra, and Southwest Michigan Symphony Orchestra (Benton Harbor) and the Kalamazoo Junior Symphony Orchestra
- 4 new works commissioned by The Gilmore, by composers Matthew Aucoin, Christopher Cerrone, Gabriela Montero, and Conrad Tao
- 3 Gilmore Artists: Piotr Anderszewski, Ingrid Fliter, and Kirill Gerstein
- 6 Gilmore Young Artists: Janice Carissa, Daniel Hsu, Kasey Shao, Clayton Stephenson, Conrad Tao, Yuja Wang, and Harmony Zhu
- 4 public conversations with Festival artists: Piotr Anderszewski, Paul Lewis, Kenny Barron, and composer Matthew Aucoin
- 9 free, by donation, and/or family-friendly events
- 27 young adult Festival Fellows here for 5-day tuition-free immersive residencies
- 8 master classes by artist-educators including Simone Dinnerstein, Ingrid Fliter, Kirill Gerstein, Olga Kern, Paul Lewis, Gabriela Montero, and Awadagin Pratt
- 3 public talks, two at the Kalamazoo Public Library by arts business guru Aubrey Bergauer, and Kalamazoo-based poet and author Mark Nepone, and one at the Black Arts and Cultural Center with musician-activist Loki Karuna
- 4 documentary screenings at the Kalamazoo Valley Museum, including 3 about and/or produced by Festival artists Yuja Wang, 2002 Gilmore Artist Piotr Anderszewski, and 2018 Gilmore Artist Igor Levit
COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT
- 100+ Individual, family, foundation, and corporate sponsors that help keep ticket prices affordable
- $4.3 million estimated regional economic impact (2022 Festival)
- 200+ volunteers support ushering, transportation, and office tasks
EXTRAS
- Pre-festival events include a collaboration with the Grand Rapids Symphony to present Jean-Yves Thibaudet on March 28, a recital by 2024 Gilmore Young Artist Harmony Zhu in Richland on April 20, and a collaboration with the Kalamazoo Junior Symphony Orchestra featuring a performance by Ms. Zhu on April 21 in Kalamazoo.
HISTORY
- The Gilmore was launched by the trustees of the Irving S. Gilmore Foundation in 1989 to honor the legacy of Kalamazoo businessman, pianist, and philanthropist Irving S. Gilmore.
- Since 1991, sixteen biennial Festivals have been enjoyed by tens of thousands of visitors to Kalamazoo, Michigan, USA.
- The Gilmore is also known for its Gilmore Artist Award, presented every four years and determined through a non-competitive process. Nine such artists have been named, most recently 2024 Gilmore Artist Alexandre Kantarow.
- A major gift of $8.8 million in 2022 launched the creation of the Larry J. Bell Jazz Artist Awards. The first recipients will be announced for the 2026 Festival.