Take a look at the 2024 Gilmore International Piano Festival by the numbers.

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.