Gardens to host one-night-only piano performance

Art

Mar 10

Written By Staff

Natalie Tenenbaum - Photo by Shervin Lainez, 2024

Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park is partnering with Kalamazoo-based The Gilmore to host the final concert of the 2026 Irving S. Gilmore Piano Festival, featuring a one-night-only performance by renowned pianist Natalie Tenenbaum May 20 at Meijer Gardens.

This marks the first time the two organizations have collaborated to present an original concert experience. The performance will take place during the landmark exhibition CHIHULY at Meijer Gardens Presented by Macatawa Bank, and as the final concert of the Gilmore International Piano Festival — North America’s largest gathering of keyboard artists.

“We’re thrilled to partner with Meijer Gardens to present a performance as bold and genre-blurring as Natalie’s to close out our 2026 Gilmore Piano Festival,” said Pierre van der Westhuizen, Executive and Artistic Director of The Gilmore Piano Festival. “This collaboration is a natural extension of our mission to bring world-class piano artistry to new audiences. We hope this concert is the first of many between our organizations, with Meijer Gardens as a new venue for our festival concerts.”

The evening will feature the internationally celebrated pianist, composer, and producer Natalie Tenenbaum, known for her genre-defying performances and boundary-pushing compositions. Her work seamlessly fuses classical mastery with jazz, electro-acoustic sound design, and cinematic storytelling. Hailed by The New York Times for her “sparkling ... consistently invigorating” interpretations, Tenenbaum has performed on stages from Carnegie Hall to SXSW and Broadway. Her performance promises a bold, immersive musical experience, blending classical piano with cinematic storytelling, presented at one of the region’s most visually stunning venues.

“This collaboration represents the spirit of innovation and artistry that drives both Meijer Gardens and The Gilmore,” said Charles Burke, President and CEO of Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park. “Natalie Tenenbaum’s music will blend perfectly with the rich sensory backdrop of the Garden Pavilion featuring Jaume Plensa’s luminous Utopia installation framing the performance, and at no better time than during our dynamic CHIHULY at Meijer Gardens exhibition.”

For more information, visit https://www.meijergardens.org/gilmore/.

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