KALAMAZOO, MI (For Release 07.07.26) — Dr. Pierre van der Westhuizen, Executive and Artistic Director of The Gilmore, today announced the concert video release of American Sputnik, a new one-act monodrama that premiered at the 2026 Irving S. Gilmore International Piano Festival. Performed before in Kalamazoo’s Chenery Auditorium, on May 1, 2026, this one-act mini opera explores Van Cliburn’s legendary victory at the 1958 International Tchaikovsky Competition and its reverberations through Cold War culture. Composed by Evan Mack with a libretto by Pulitzer Prize- and GRAMMY Award-winning writer Mark Campbell, American Sputnik includes performances by the Kalamazoo Symphony Orchestra, baritone Joseph Lattanzi, and pianist Stanislav Khristenko. The premiere video will be broadcast on Sunday, July 12, 2026, on The Gilmore’s YouTube channel, and available in perpetuity.
The audacious premiere of American Sputnik and Van Cliburn’s story of hope demonstrate how artists help bring nations together through a shared love of music. The Gilmore and Kalamazoo Symphony Orchestra are committed to making connections between music and the world in which we live.
DR. PIERRE VAN DER WESTHUIZEN, Executive and Artistic Director of The Gilmore:
“Commissioning, presenting and now broadcasting American Sputnik reflects The Gilmore’s vision of pushing the boundaries of what a piano festival can offer. We are excited to share this deeply engaging performance with a global audience!”
JULIAN KUERTI, Music Director of the Kalamazoo Symphony Orchestra:
“At the Kalamazoo Symphony, one of our very core missions is to support new music and champion living composers. When the opportunity to co-commission Sputnik arose, I jumped at it — a work of musical theatre so original; and telling a story that so many musicians have lived through themselves.”
ABOUT AMERICAN SPUTNIK
The world premiere and subsequent broadcast of American Sputnik (2026) couldn’t be more apt. Cliburn himself helped launch the Gilmore Festival in 1991. 35 years later, the Festival co-commissioned with the Kalamazoo Symphony Orchestra this new work exploring his historic 1958 victory at the International Tchaikovsky Piano Competition in Moscow. Set during the height of the Cold War, the 60-minute monodrama follows the young Texas pianist’s journey to Moscow, the intense pressure of competing for first prize and his triumphant return home. Mack centers the musical storytelling around Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto No. 1 and Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 2 – the very repertoire Cliburn wielded as cultural weaponry in Moscow.
The premiere brought together six exceptional artists:
Kalamazoo Symphony Orchestra | Julian Kuerti (conductor) | Joseph Lattanzi (baritone) | Stanislav Khristenko (piano) | Evan Mack (composer) | Mark Campbell (librettist)
Classical Voice North America raved: “That American Sputnik is an enormously ambitious conceit is beyond doubt. The four-part arc – departure, competition, triumph, and return – traced a coherent emotional journey. Baritone Joseph Lattanzi inhabited Cliburn with a Candide-like innocence, and pianist Stanislav Khristenko – himself a Tchaikovsky Competition laureate – played with brilliant displays of self-communion and sudden bravura.”
International Piano declared: “American Sputnik turned out to be a searching act of self-examination for the piano world writ large: Cliburn’s victory as geopolitical spectacle, his isolation, the piano as both private necessity and public instrument were all laid out in intimate detail…heroically navigated.”
The Gilmore’s Legacy of Commissioning New Works
The Gilmore Piano Festival has a distinguished history of commissioning new works, continuing its mission to support the creation and performance of new music for the piano. Over the years, the Festival has become known for its commitment to expanding the repertoire through significant commissions from renowned composers.
The Gilmore has commissioned, on its own and via Gilmore Artists and Gilmore Young Artists Award funds, more than 45 new works from composers including Matthew Aucoin, Michael Brown, Elliott Carter, Christopher Cerrone, Chick Corea, Michael Gordon, Stephen Hough, Oliver Knussen, Brad Mehldau, Nico Muhly, Frederick Rzewski, and Tyshawn Sorey among many others.
The Gilmore and Kalamazoo Symphony Orchestra previously co-commissioned Richard Adams’ Tandem Voices, for two pianos and percussion ensemble. The Gilmore has also co-commissioned works for the Kalamazoo Symphony Orchestra including Michel Legrand’s Concerto for Piano and Orchestra, Ned Rorem’s Piano Concerto No. 4, for left hand and orchestra, and two works by Curtis Curtis-Smith including his Concerto for violin, piano, and strings and Concerto for left hand and orchestra.
About The Gilmore
Created in 1989 to honor the legacy of businessman and philanthropist Irving S. Gilmore,The Gilmore is the premier institution in the United States dedicated exclusively to commissioning, presenting and awarding extraordinary piano artistry. The Gilmore has presented 16 piano festivals, commissioned more than 45 new works for piano, and awarded over $3 million through its internationally renowned awards programs, including the Gilmore Artist Award and Gilmore Young Artist Award for classical pianists, and the Larry J. Bell Jazz Artist Award and Larry J. Bell Young Jazz Artist Award for jazz pianists. Based in Kalamazoo, Michigan, The Gilmore hosted its annual (previously biennial) Gilmore International Piano Festival April 30-May 10, 2026, with the next Festival set to take place April 27-May 9, 2027. Year-round, The Gilmore continues to impact the lives of thousands of area children and adults through its community engagement and music education programs including summer camps, music therapy, and much more.
About Kalamazoo Symphony Orchestra
For over a century, the Kalamazoo Symphony Orchestra (KSO) has shared lifelong musical experiences and learning throughout our community. The KSO actively collaborates with local organizations to inspire, educate, and connect people through the arts. The Symphony serves the community through exceptional symphonic music, a professional roster of over 80 musicians, world-class guest artists, and vibrant educational programs that reach over 30,000 students annually. The KSO's Artists in Residence Program puts Symphony musicians at the service of the community, helping Kalamazoo families make great classical music a part of their everyday lives. The Kalamazoo Symphony Orchestra’s commissioning partnership is made possible through the generous support of the Christopher and Margo Light New Music Fund.
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