The Grant Was Awarded by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation 

In late September of 2019, the Gilmore Foundation announced they’d been awarded a hearty, four-year grant by the W.K Kellogg Foundation that’s set to support both music education as well as family-friendly programming in nearby Battle Creek, Michigan. 

The funding, which The Gilmore proudly accepted, is set to enable young children and their families in the surrounding areas to receive musical instruction as well as support the festival programming in Battle Creek. 

The Gilmore primarily provides musical instruction and education through Gilmore Piano Lab, a recent project launched in 2017 at the Ann J. Kellogg Elementary School—another project supported by the Kellogg Foundation. The Gilmore Piano Lab encourages students to meet in small groups twice weekly for short, half-hour sessions over the course of the school year to learn how to play the piano, compose, read music, improvise, and so much more. A shorter, more concise summer program is offered to students in Battle Creek during the summer months, too. 

“Piano Labs are designed to offer piano lessons and music education for elementary-age children,” said Gilmore Director of Education Adam Schumaker in The Gilmore’s press release announcing the grant. “Our goal is to make these opportunities, and the developmental benefits they generate, more equitable for all children.”

An established piano foundation that was developed in 1989 by the trustees of the Irving S. Gilmore Foundation of Kalamazoo, Michigan, The Gilmore is an organization known for its biennial Gilmore Keyboard Festival, a three-week celebration of keyboard music; the renowned Gilmore Awards, a series of awards presented to pianists based on a non-competitive process; and the commission of composers to create new keyboard works. 

The grant from the Kellogg Foundation will be announced and presented as part of the famed biennial Gilmore International Keyboard Festival this year. The four-year grant will provide the support needed for the 2020 Gilmore Festival (which is set for April 22-May 10 of 2020), as well as the 2022 festival, as well. 

“The Gilmore exists to inspire people through keyboard music,” said Gilmore Director Pierre van der Westhuizen in the foundation’s self-released press announcement of the four-year grant. “Whether this is by presenting the Gilmore Artist Award to an accomplished pianist, organizing a three-week international keyboard festival, or teaching a young child to play the piano, we hope the end result is the same: bring joy, build community, help people grow.”

Find more information here about The Gilmore, The Gilmore Piano Labs, The Gilmore International Keyboard Festival, and the four-year grant provided by the J.W. Kellogg Foundation.