Pianist Kirill Gerstein has been named winner of the 2010 Gilmore Artist Award, presented every four years by the Irving S. Gilmore International Keyboard Festival, based in western Michigan. Gerstein, born in Voronezh, Russia, moved to the U.S. at age 14 and divides his time between the U.S. and Germany, where he is professor of piano at the Musikhochschule in Stuttgart. Gerstein will receive $300,000 over the next four years, to be used for projects and activities that will enhance his musicianship and career. Candidates for the award are nominated confidentially by a committee of music professionals and evaluated by an anonymous six-member artist advisory committee; committee members for the 2010 award included Matias Tarnopolsky, former artistic administrator of the new York Philharmonic and current director of Cal Performances at the University of California, Berkeley; pianist and teacher Ann Schein; and Don Michael Randel, president of the Andrew Mellon Foundation. Previous recipients of the award include Ingrid Fliter (2006), Piotr Anderszewski (2002), Leif Ove Andsnes (1998), Ralf Gothóni (1994), and David Owen Norris (1991). Gerstein won first prize at the 2001 Arthur Rubinstein Piano Competition in Tel Aviv and was previously winner of the 2002 Gilmore Young Artist Award, given every two years to American pianists age 22 or younger.
Posted January 11, 2010
