The Irving S. Gilmore International Piano Festival is, not to put too fine a point on it, enormous. 2026’s festival brings over 75 events to many venues in multiple cities over a little less than two weeks (April 30th through May 10th).
While classical music and jazz will constitute the base of the music played, a wide range of genres will be represented. Audience members can attend master classes, films, talks, and performances. Some performances will be by established masters, while rising stars will feature in others. Well-known pieces will be played, as will newly commissioned work. Above all, the piano will be celebrated.
Asked why the instrument is so beloved, Executive and Artistic Director Pierre van der Westhuizen directs your attention back to the 18th and 19th centuries. “The piano was the main way people engaged with music before CD players, Apple Music, or Spotify,” he said. “Piano lessons were part of culture.”
It’s an accessible instrument, at least to a degree. “You don’t need a musical background or training to make a sound, just come up. There’s something magical about it. Here’s this huge, black, shiny, attractive object, and, boom, sound appears the minute you touch it. That holds some power.”
Van der Westhuizen joined the Gilmore in January 2018. A pianist and educator himself, he greatly admired the Gilmore Artist Award (at $300,000, the largest in the world; it’s given every four years). He attended the 2012 festival. “I couldn’t believe it. Here in this Midwest town were artists from all over the world. I got to see my heroes. I was drawn like a moth to a flame.”
Today, he helps draw others. The list of 2026 performers is extraordinary, as even a small sample demonstrates.
May 1st sees the premiere of From Cliburn to Kantorow: A Celebration of Tchaikovsky at Kalamazoo’s Chenery Auditorium. The mini-opera, by Evan Mack and Mark Campbell, explores the impact of American pianist’s Van Cliburn’s winning the Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow during the Cold War. 2024 Gilmore Artist Alexandre Kantorow will perform, along with baritone Joseph Lattanzi and pianist Stanislav Khristenko.
A collection of short films by pioneering film fantasist Georges Méliès will be screened at the Chenery Auditorium in Kalamazoo on May 2nd. Right In The Eye assembles twelve of his best pieces. Three musicians will perform live accompaniment on fifty (!) instruments.
On May 5th, pianist and vocalist Kandace Springs will play Western Michigan University’s Williams Theatre. Acclaimed as an artist in her own right, Springs has played onstage with some of the greats, including Sting, Norah Jones, and the ever-exacting Prince. Her set will include songs from her latest album, Lady in Satin, a tribute to Billie Holiday’s 1958 album of the same name.
On May 6th, pianist Charlotte Wu will lead a master class (as with all the festival’s master classes, it will be free and open to everyone), providing insight into the art of music and its demands on the performer. On the next day, May 7th, she’ll perform works by Chopin and Viardot, accompanied by world-renowned mezzo-soprano Raquel González.
Grammy Award winner Nicole Zuraitis, a classically trained pianist and vocalist (and, not incidentally, songwriter), will perform at Kool Family Community Center, in Battle Creek, on May 8th. Attendees can expect her customary mix of jazz, pop, and more.
On May 9th, Sara Davis Buechner will perform at Western Michigan University’s Dalton Center Recital Hall. She’ll be presenting her one-woman show, “Of Pigs and Pianos” (the title’s a reference to her childhood dream, which was to grow up to become a pianist and pig farmer). Through spoken word, music, and visual accompaniments, she’ll tell her life story, including the story of how she transitioned her gender in mid-career.
Also on May 9th, longstanding jazz master Chucho Valdés will take to the stage. He’ll perform at Chenery Auditorium in Kalamazoo, bringing his trademark Afro-Cuban jazz and drawing on inspirations as wide-ranging as Chick Corea, Mozart, blues, Cuban folksongs, and more.
On May 10th, Kalamazoo’s Chenery Auditorium will host Sullivan Fortner (2026’s Larry J. Bell Jazz Artist). Along with his trio, he’ll accompany Grammy Award-winning singer Cécile McLorin Salvant. Tyrone Allen on bass, Kayvon Gordon on drums, and trumpeter Ambrose Akinmusire will round out the event. The event will serve as the festival’s finale.
Asked which events van der Westhuizen hopes to attend, he said, “All of them. You kind of can’t help yourself. I’ll say goodbye to my family for a couple of weeks.” Whether audience members match that level of commitment or not, they’re certain to find something exciting, joyous, beautiful, moving and deeply memorable in this year’s remarkable series.
To explore the full lineup of events, and to secure tickets, visit thegilmore.org.
April 2026
- Joshua Bell — April 24, 2026 — 7:30 PM
- FILM: Murray Perahia: Not of This World — April 28, 2026 — 12:00 PM
- FILM: Pianoforte — April 29, 2026 — 12:00 PM
- FILM: Oscar Peterson: Black + White — April 30, 2026 — 12:00 PM
- Opening Night: Sullivan Fortner Solo Game — April 30, 2026 — 6:00 PM
May 2026
- Van Cliburn: Concert Pianist. Film by Peter Rosen — May 1, 2026 — 12:00 PM
- From Cliburn to Kantorow: A Celebration of Tchaikovsky — May 1, 2026 — 7:00 PM
- A Conversation with Sean Hickey — May 1, 2026 — 2:00 PM
- Right in the Eye — Family Concert — May 2, 2026 — 2:00 PM
- Alexandre Kantorow, 2024 Gilmore Artist — May 2, 2026 — 8:00 PM
- Master Class: Stewart Goodyear — May 3, 2026 — 10:00 AM
- Baby Grands with Heitzig and Jones — May 3, 2026 — 12:30 PM
- Brad Mehldau & Kirill Gerstein in Dialogue — May 4, 2026 — 7:30 PM
- Master Class: Lori Sims — May 5, 2026 — 10:00 AM
- 2026 Bell Young Artist Esteban Castro Trio — May 5, 2026 — 12:00 PM
- 2026 Bell Young Artist Tyler Bullock Trio — May 5, 2026 — 12:00 PM
- Eighth Blackbird — May 5, 2026 — 2:00 PM
- Master Class: Charlotte Hu — May 6, 2026 — 10:00 AM
- 2026 Bell Young Artist Tyler Bullock Trio — May 6, 2026 — 12:00 PM
- 2026 Bell Young Artist Esteban Castro Trio — May 6, 2026 — 12:00 PM
- Lori Sims — May 6, 2026 — 2:00 PM
- Master Class: Bill Charlap & Renee Rosnes — May 6, 2026 — 4:00 PM
- Kirill Gerstein & KSO with Beethoven’s Piano Concertos — May 6, 2026 — 7:30 PM
- Master Class: Stanislav Khristenko — May 7, 2026 — 10:00 AM
- Nicole Zuraitis — May 7, 2026 — 12:00 PM
- Sara Davis Buechner: "Of Pigs and Pianos" — May 9, 2026 — 1:00 PM
- Marc-André Hamelin — May 9, 2026 — 4:00 PM
- Chucho Valdés Royal Quartet — May 9, 2026 — 7:30 PM
- Master Class: Marc-André Hamelin — May 10, 2026 — 10:00 AM
- Finale: Sullivan Fortner Trio featuring Cécile McLorin Salvant & Ambrose Akinmusire — May 10, 2026 — 4:00 PM
