Africa at your fingertips

The artist has traveled the world but this is the first time he will give a recital in Paris. Kimball Gallagher is an original pianist who does not believe that classical music is confined to Western culture. The so-called scholarly music is found at the bend of a journey, of an encounter both in Tunis and in Dakar, or elsewhere in the world. Just listen and open your horizons. And what the native of Boston does precisely with his association 88International, 88 for the number of keys on the piano keyboard. At the Salle Gaveau, he will present works by Mozart and Chopin as well as original contemporary creations that allow a meeting of equals between Africa and Europe.

Africa at heart

The artist is eager to perform in front of the public. He hasn’t done a major concert since the pandemic. He is also eager to show the results of his personal investment in the field. “In line with Mozart and Chopin, inspired by the other and the unknown”, Kimball Gallagher will present, Monday, June 12 at the Salle Gaveau, artists with an original career such as Souhayl Guesmi on the nay (Tunisian flute) and Nejia Abidi singing in the Tunisian dialect. There will also be Senegalese kora and Wolof singing with Magou Samb and Afghan rhythms. The American pianist questions otherness, makes it an asset. Going towards the other, it opens windows “on new sensations and new worlds”.

In concrete terms, Kimball Gallagher’s commitment translates into an increasingly increased presence of his association in Tunisia and Senegal in particular. Many extra-curricular music clubs have sprung up in these two countries. It is all this richness that the American pianist intends to restore to his Parisian public.