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20 Usher/Greeter/Scanners

6 Reception

2 Information Station

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Description:

Before the 2026 Gilmore Festival officially kicks off, celebrated violinist Joshua Bell returns to Kalamazoo for a special recital program with pianist Shai Wosner, previously seen on The Gilmore’s Rising Stars Series. The two have performed together to wide acclaim on numerous recital tours in the great concert halls of the United States and Europe. They will treat Gilmore audiences to a program of Romantic and early-20th-century violin sonatas by Schubert, Grieg, and Prokofiev, as well as additional surprise works to be announced from the stage.

The Gilmore presents this recital in honor of the Stulberg International String Competition’s 50th anniversary, of which Bell was gold medalist in 1981.

Pre-concert talk at 6:30 pm with Dr. Zaide Pixley in Room 130

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20 Usher/Greeter/Scanners

6 Reception

2 Information Station

TBD Transportation

Description:

American pianist Van Cliburn instantly shot to superstardom after winning the inaugural International Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow at the height of the Cold War. At this year’s Festival, experience the World Premiere of a new one-act monodrama by American composer Evan Mack and Pulitzer-prize winning librettist Mark Campbell, exploring the impact of Cliburn’s historic win on his own life and on global culture. American Sputnik features baritone Joseph Lattanzi and Cleveland International Piano Competition-winning pianist Stanislav Khristenko dually portraying the role of Cliburn, joined by the Kalamazoo Symphony Orchestra under Music Director Julian Kuerti. After intermission, 2024 Gilmore Artist Alexandre Kantorow — who followed in Cliburn’s footsteps as a winner of the Tchaikovsky Competition — joins the KSO to perform Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto No. 2, one of the concertos that helped Kantorow earn his victory at the competition.

Volunteer Needs:

20 Usher/Greeter/Scanners

6 Reception

2 Information Station

TBD Transportation

Description:

The day after performing Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto No. 2 with the Kalamazoo Symphony Orchestra, 2024 Gilmore Artist Alexandre Kantorow returns to give a solo recital, showcasing his varied repertoire. Anchoring the program is the final piano sonata by Beethoven and the first piano sonata by Nikolai Medtner. Kantorow also presents the US Premiere of a new work by leading Swedish composer Anders Hillborg, which Kantorow commissioned through his Gilmore Artist Award; he will premiere the work at the Lucerne Festival in January 2026.

Pre-concert talk at 7 pm with Dr. Zaide Pixley in Room 130

Volunteer Needs:

8 Usher/Greeter/Scanners

4 Reception

TBD Transportation

Discription:

In a rare performance by an organist at The Gilmore, Cameron Carpenter demonstrates the versatility and dramatic power of his chosen instrument. Committed to expanding the repertoire for the organ, Carpenter composes original music and also creates his own virtuosic arrangements of iconic works of classical music, including J.S. Bach’s Goldberg Variations and Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition. Carpenter is the first-ever organist to be nominated for a GRAMMY® Award for a solo album (for his debut album Revolutionary), and has transfixed audiences worldwide with his dazzling technique and larger-than-life style.

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6 Usher/Greeter/Scanners

3 Reception

1 Information Station

TBD Transportation

Description:

GRAMMY® Award-winning pianist Richard Goode is internationally renowned for his interpretations of Classical and Romantic music. His 10-disc recording of Beethoven’s complete piano sonatas remains a benchmark in the industry. Goode returns to The Gilmore to perform two cornerstones of the repertoire: Beethoven’s monumental Diabelli Variations and Schubert’s heartrending Sonata in B-flat Major, his final composition for solo piano. Either of these works on their own would comprise a worthwhile recital program; the chance to hear both in one evening is not to be missed!

Pre-Concert Talk with Andrew Koehler | 6:30 PM | Lecture Hall

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6 Usher/Greeter/Scanners

3 Reception

1 Information Station

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Canadian pianist Stewart Goodyear possesses a huge, dramatic sound, an elegant technique, and an omnivorous approach to keyboard music. Goodyear has attracted particular attention for his Beethoven “Sonatathons,” a term he coined to describe his epic performances of Beethoven’s complete piano sonatas in one day. Like Beethoven, Goodyear himself is a talented pianist-composer, frequently performing his own works in recital. His Gilmore program includes three of Beethoven’s best-loved sonatas — the “Tempest,” the “Moonlight,” and the “Appassionata” — juxtaposed with his own Rhapsody and Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso.

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6 Usher/Greeter/Scanners

3 Reception

1 Information Station

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Description:

Four-time GRAMMY® Award-winning contemporary music sextet Eighth Blackbird is, according to The Chicago Tribune, “one of the smartest, most dynamic ensembles on the planet.” They perform Four Organs and Piano Phase, two seminal 20th-century works by pioneering American minimalist composer Steve Reich in his 90th birthday year, as well as the World Premiere of a new work written for them by Clarice Assad, commissioned by The Gilmore. A composer, vocalist, and multi-instrumentalist, Assad creatively fuses elements of classical, jazz, and Brazilian music for a sound that’s completely her own.

Pre-concert talk at 1 pm with Dr. Beau Bothwell in the Lecture Hall at Dalton Center

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6 Usher/Greeter/Scanners

3 Reception

1 Information Station

Description:

A pillar of the Kalamazoo musical community, Lori Sims returns to The Gilmore for a recital on piano and harpsichord, demonstrating how the harpsichord and Baroque musical forms can be updated and reworked in a modern context. Opening with J.S. Bach’s Partita for keyboard No. 6, Sims then jumps to works by two of the 20th century’s most important composers, György Ligeti and Sofia Gubaidulina, who both fused traditional Baroque forms—the Passacaglia and the Chaconne—with their distinctly modern musical languages. Ligeti’s dizzyingly intricate works for harpsichord push the instrument to its limits.