Journalism of Courage
Set for his maiden performance in Pune,pianist Kimball Gallagher shares his passion for art.
As a five-year-old,he never liked the forceful strict regime of taking piano lessons from his father. Later at ten,he could gather enough courage to finally quit. Little did he know that a year later he would come around to the instrument like a compass to the North. For pianist Kimball Gallagher,the first recital for a few people in the living room translated to an audience of 60 at a local piano store. This was followed by eight consecutive recitals in his hometown,Boston. Gallagher,who has given performances worldwide,will be in the city at the Mazda Hall in Camp on November 4 as a part of a concert organised by the Poona Music Society.
As a pianist,Gallagher considers his father and a family friend,Joseph Smith as his biggest influences. Maestros like Josef Hofmann,Alfred Cortot and Harowitz have also helped him develop his pianistic skills. I have also had wonderful teachers like Jonathan Bass in Boston,Jeanne Fischer at Rice in Houston,Robert McDonald in New York and many more whom Im forever indebted to, he adds. Though this is Gallaghers first visit to Pune,he has been to other parts of the country earlier. He has performed for tour –‘Kennedy Centre to Kabul,from Mumbai to Boulder,Chicago to Shanghai and Tuscany to Tunisia’. Commenting on this tour he says,My expectations are that the audience is respectful and engaged in the performance and will hopefully share some of my excitement.
At the concert,Gallagher will be playing Beethoven,Chopin and Liszt. However for this trip,Gallagher has learnt a lot about the Indian music as well and promises to play pieces which have strong Indian influences. Some of the compositions in the line-up of Pune performance has been commissioned by Michael Harrison,one of the truly revolutionary composers of recent years,who has invented a new tuning system, says Gallagher. Harrison is the president of New York Association of Indian music. I hope to play more works on the piano inspired by Indian music and explore these possibilities more deeply. So far on the tour,I’ve found that audiences respond quite well to them, he adds.
(Gallagher will perform at the Dastur Primary School on November 4 at 6.30 pm)
