Kimball Gallagher

KIMBALL GALLAGHER has risen to prominence as one of the most dynamic and multifaceted pianists on the stage today. His sensitive insights at the keyboard, coupled with his pioneering and enterprising sensibilities, have enabled him to explore and develop a broad scope of creative endeavors. As founder of the NGO, 88 International, and in collaboration with public and private partners, he develops and launches large-scale transformational music programs for youth, leading to societal-level impacts around the globe.

Critics have described him as a “dynamo,” “sunlit and rapturous,” and “a lightning bolt.” Gallagher’s sold-out 2008 debut at Carnegie Hall launched his international 88-Concert Tour, a series reviving salon culture through more than 300 performances in non-traditional venues. Gallagher has blazed a trail across all seven continents, appeared in 30 countries, and performed in distinguished venues and intimate gatherings around the world, from the Kennedy Center to Kabul, Bombay to Boulder, Chicago to Shanghai, and Tuscany to Tunisia.

Under Gallagher’s leadership and in partnership with institutional collaborators, 88 International has initiated large-scale music education and life-skills programs in Myanmar, Tunisia, Taiwan, Senegal, St. Martin, and Chile. Collectively, these programs have brought music in person to over 200,000 students. In the coming decade, 88 International aims to expand programming in 88 countries.

Gallagher’s recordings include the complete Chopin Etudes, Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition, and an album of Liszt including the Sonata in B Minor. He also recorded 88 original preludes, each dedicated to a person he met on the 88-Concert Tour, representing meaningful connections in more than 30 countries.

A native of Boston, Kimball Gallagher earned his undergraduate degree at Rice University in the studio of Jeanne Kierman-Fischer, and his Master of Music degree as a pupil of Robert McDonald at The Juilliard School. His life-long mentor, pianist Joseph Smith, was central to his musical development, alongside David Dubal, Jerome Lowenthal, and Seymour Bernstein.