Gilbert Kalish at 90
CMS is thrilled to present a concert film celebrating the extraordinary eight-decade career of pianist Gilbert Kalish, recipient of the Award for Extraordinary Service to Chamber Music in the 2025-26 season. The film features the entirety of Kalish’s sold-out 90th birthday concert in October 2025, including a captivating performance of Schoenberg's seminal 1912 melodrama Pierrot lunaire. The performances are interspersed with exclusive interviews and behind-the-scenes footage with CMS artists and Kalish himself.
Directed by Tristan Cook
Director of Photography: Zac James Nicholson
Concert Recording Engineer: Leszek Wojcik
Concert Production Managers: Sarissa Michaud, Colin Roshak
Concert Lighting Designer: Joshua Benghiat
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Gilbert Kalish
The profound influence of pianist Gilbert Kalish as an educator and pianist in myriad performances and recordings has established him as a major figure in American music-making. This season he appears with the St. Petersburg Chamber Philharmonic, performs at the Ojai Music Festival, and holds a residency at the San Francisco Conservatory. In 2006 he was awarded the Peabody Medal by the Peabody Conservatory for his outstanding contributions to music in America. He was the pianist of the Boston Symphony Chamber Players for 30 years, and was a founding member of the Contemporary Chamber Ensemble, a group that flourished during the 1960s and 70s in support of new music. He is particularly known for his partnership of many years with mezzo-soprano Jan DeGaetani, as well as for current collaborations with soprano Dawn Upshaw and cellists Timothy Eddy and Joel Krosnik. As an educator and performer he has appeared at the Banff Centre, the Steans Institute at Ravinia, the Marlboro Music Festival, and Music@Menlo; from 1985 to 1997 he served as chairman of the Tanglewood faculty. His discography of some 100 recordings embraces both the classical and contemporary repertories; of special note are those made with Ms. DeGaetani and that of Ives' Concord Sonata. A distinguished professor at SUNY Stony Brook, Mr. Kalish has been an Artist of The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center since 2006.