About The Festival
Irving S. Gilmore International Keyboard Festival
The first Gilmore International Keyboard Festival took place in 1991. The Festival spanned nine days and encompassed 46 musical events, including a Music Critics Institute. We introduced the first Gilmore Artist - David Owen Norris, and our first Gilmore Young Artists - Christopher Taylor, Brenda Huang, Wendy Chen and Peter Miyamoto. The Festival's Master Series included performances by Alicia de Larrocha, Leon Fleisher, Chick Corea, Peter Nero, Steve Allen, George Shearing, Billy Taylor and Van Cliburn, among others.
Now, every two years The Gilmore presents two+ weeks of superb piano performances - more than 100 events. The Gilmore Keyboard Festival has become a leading American festival known the world over for celebrating the joy and power of keyboard music in concerts, lectures, master classes and films. Names of eminent classical keyboard artists, jazz greats and contemporary stars fill the program booklet, but The Gilmore also showcases lesser-known artists and music that merit wider exposure. The Festival is the best known aspect of The Gilmore's core mission of nurturing keyboard musicians and music.
Kalamazoo?
The Gilmore Keyboard Festival is set throughout West Michigan. Our mainstage Festival events occur in Kalamazoo, a city just inland from Michigan's beautiful west coast. While your Festival calendar will be filled with music, you might want to leave a bit of time for some spectacular springtime explorations.
The West Michigan coastline is filled with miles of beaches ready for a sandy stroll, rolling sand dunes, and quaint lakeside resort towns. Our Festival area offers artist enclaves, orchards, roadside stands, farmers' markets and miles of backcountry roads leading to hundreds of lakes and rivers. You'll discover antique stores, little shops and delightful restaurants.
You can discover more about Kalamazoo and some of the surrounding cities by clicking on the following links:
More than 10,000 acres of grape vines and over a dozen vineyards offer a chance for wine tasting, vineyard tours and gourmet meals. Dozens of golf courses dot the area, as do marvelous attractions such as the Kalamazoo Institute of Arts, the St. Joseph Box Factory, the Gilmore Car Museum, Meijer Gardens, and many, many more.
Come for the music. Celebrate the setting.
