Winner of the largest financial gift in jazz for pianists today
Watch awards ceremony streaming on The Gilmore’s YouTube Channel
Pianist Sullivan Fortner has been named the recipient of The Gilmore’s inaugural 2026 Larry J. Bell Jazz Artist Award. One of the most prestigious honors in music, the Award was announced at a special ceremony held October 8, 2025, at The Jerome L. Greene Space in New York City. Marking the largest single gift ever dedicated solely to a jazz artist, Fortner receives $300,000 in support of his musical and career goals over the next four years. Both casual and virtuosic, the Brooklyn-based pianist delights music fans all over the world. Fortner’s journey from his hometown of New Orleans and mentorship under Ellis Marsalis to his ongoing collaborations with luminaries such as Cecile McLorin Salvant has solidified his place as one of jazz’s most vital voices.
“To win this Award, and even be considered for it, is very affirming. I am honored to join the esteemed Gilmore Artist family. As the first jazz pianist to ever receive an Artist Award from The Gilmore the significance and responsibility is enormous. In all that I do, I hope to represent Larry J. Bell and The Gilmore name well. This generous gift is a welcome reminder for me to create more music.” —Sullivan Fortner
“Sullivan Fortner is one of the most gifted artists I’ve ever encountered. His technique is effortless, his ear extraordinary, and his vision profound — but what makes him truly remarkable is the sheer joy that radiates from him when he plays. That joie de vivre infuses his music with a vitality and spirit that turns mastery into magic.” —Seth Abramason, Director of The Gilmore’s Jazz Awards
Mirroring the internationally renowned Gilmore Artist Awards for classical pianists, the Larry J. Bell Jazz Artists Awards provide some of the most generous financial support given in the musical arts. The Jazz Awards program was established in 2022 with an $8.8 million gift to The Gilmore’s endowment and is named for Kalamazoo businessman Larry J. Bell who founded Bell’s Brewery in 1985. Both the Bell Artist and Bell Young Artist Awards are presented every four years. The 2026 Bell Young Artists Awardees were announced last month; Tyler Bullock and Esteban Castro each received a stipend of $25,000.
“Jazz has been a part of my life for as long as I can remember, and supporting extraordinary artists has always been my passion. Sullivan Fortner is a pianist whose talent, vision, and heart will carry jazz forward. I’m proud that The Gilmore can help continue his journey and amplify his voice as he shapes the next chapter of jazz.” —Larry J. Bell, Past President of The Gilmore’s Board of Trustees
Hosted by radio personality Paul Cavalconte (WBGO/WQXR/WFUV), last night’s event featured Fortner’s first performance as a Bell Artist, followed by an onstage conversation led by SiriusXM Radio’s Mark Ruffin. The event was livestreamed at TheGilmore.org, as well as by The Gilmore’s streaming partners including WBGO Radio, All About Jazz, Steinway & Sons, International Piano, and Jazzwise.
The Bell Artist Award is presented every four years on a non-competitive basis to an exceptional pianist who, regardless of age or nationality, is a profound musician with a breadth of musicianship and individual artistic voice inclusive of original compositions, and whose active recording and global touring career can use the enhancement that the Award’s prestige and funds provide.
The selection committee for the 2026 Bell Artist Award included Seth Abramson, The Gilmore Committee Chair; Joan A. Cararach, Artistic Director of Barcelona Jazz Festival; Vivian Chiu, Director of Cultural Partnerships and Artist Services at Steinway & Sons; Christopher Roberts, former President of the Classics and Jazz Division of Universal Music Group; Mark Ruffin, Program Director and On-Air Host for Real Jazz at Sirius XM Satellite Radio; and Wayne Winborne, Executive Director of the Institute of Jazz Studies at Rutgers University-Newark.
About Sullivan Fortner For more than a decade, 2x GRAMMY Award-winning pianist Sullivan Fortner has been stretching deep-rooted talents as a pianist, composer, band leader and uncompromising individualist. The acclaimed artist and educator out of New Orleans received international praise as both a key player and producer for his collaborative work on The Window, alongside Cecile McLorin Salvant subsequently awarding him his first GRAMMY for Best Jazz Vocal Album in 2019. He also earned a 2023 GRAMMY nomination for his provocative arrangement of “Optimistic Voices/No Love Dying” from her 2022 release Ghost Song. The 2025 GRAMMY for Best Jazz Performance was awarded to Samara Joy featuring Fortner for their song “Twinkle Twinkle Little Me”.
As a solo leader he has issued Aria (2015), Moments Preserved (2018) and Solo Game (2024) to critical acclaim, the latter receiving four-star reviews in DownBeat and France’s Telerama Magazine. In 2025, he released his trio recording Southern Nights featuring Peter Washington and Marcus Gilmore.
Winner of the 2024 DownBeat Critics Poll for Rising Star Jazz Group: Sullivan Fortner Trio, the prolific artist has enjoyed creative associations with Wynton Marsalis, Paul Simon, Diane Reeves, Etienne Charles and John Scofield; his frequent and longtime collaborators have included Ambrose Akinmusire, Dee Dee Bridgewater, Stefon Harris, Kassa Overall, Tivon Pennicott, Peter Bernstein, Nicholas Payton, Billy Hart, Gary Bartz, Chief Adjuah and the late Roy Hargrove.
Playing solo or leading an orchestra, Fortner engages harmony and rhythmic ideas through curiosity and clarity. Coming up in New Orleans, he began playing piano at age seven, earning his Bachelor of Music from Oberlin Conservatory and Master of Music in Jazz Performance from Manhattan School of Music (MSM). A champion of mentorship, Fortner has offered masterclasses at MSM, New Orleans Center for Creative Arts (NOCCA), Purdue University, Lafayette Summer Music Workshop, Belmont University and Oberlin Conservatory where he held a faculty position and subsequently returned as visiting professor of jazz piano.
Fortner has performed at Snug Harbor, New Orleans Center for the Creative Arts, Sweet Lorraine’s and The Jazz Playhouse in New Orleans, and Jazz at Lincoln Center, Jazz Standard and Smalls Jazz Club in New York City. He’s appeared at Newport, Monterey, Discover, Tri-C and The Gilmore Piano festivals. In 2019, Fortner brought his band to the historic Village Vanguard for a week-long engagement he would reprise in 2020 as a virtual performance during lockdown. His notable studio contributions include work on Etienne Charles’s Kaiso (Culture Shock, 2011), Donald Harrison’s Quantum Leap (FOMP, 2010), and Theo Croker’s The Fundamentals (Left Sided Music, 2007).
Fortner’s artistry preserves the tradition and evolves the sound. He seeks connections among different musical styles that are at once deeply soulful and wildly inventive. Both his works and his insights have been featured in culture drivers from The New York Times to The Root. Further accolades include the 2015 Cole Porter Fellowship awarded by the American Pianists Association, Leonore Annenberg Arts Fellowship, the 2016 Lincoln Center Award for Emerging Artists, the prestigious Shifting Foundation Grant in 2020 for artistic career development and the 2024 Western Jazz Presenters grant, which allowed him to tour the west coast with his trio. Fortner is a Steinway Artist.
Sullivan Fortner will perform two programs during the 2026 Gilmore Piano Festival, April 30–May 10, 2026, in Kalamazoo, Michigan.
Watch awards ceremony streaming on The Gilmore’s YouTube Channel
Pianist Sullivan Fortner has been named the recipient of The Gilmore’s inaugural 2026 Larry J. Bell Jazz Artist Award. One of the most prestigious honors in music, the Award was announced at a special ceremony held October 8, 2025, at The Jerome L. Greene Space in New York City. Marking the largest single gift ever dedicated solely to a jazz artist, Fortner receives $300,000 in support of his musical and career goals over the next four years. Both casual and virtuosic, the Brooklyn-based pianist delights music fans all over the world. Fortner’s journey from his hometown of New Orleans and mentorship under Ellis Marsalis to his ongoing collaborations with luminaries such as Cecile McLorin Salvant has solidified his place as one of jazz’s most vital voices.
“To win this Award, and even be considered for it, is very affirming. I am honored to join the esteemed Gilmore Artist family. As the first jazz pianist to ever receive an Artist Award from The Gilmore the significance and responsibility is enormous. In all that I do, I hope to represent Larry J. Bell and The Gilmore name well. This generous gift is a welcome reminder for me to create more music.” —Sullivan Fortner
“Sullivan Fortner is one of the most gifted artists I’ve ever encountered. His technique is effortless, his ear extraordinary, and his vision profound — but what makes him truly remarkable is the sheer joy that radiates from him when he plays. That joie de vivre infuses his music with a vitality and spirit that turns mastery into magic.” —Seth Abramason, Director of The Gilmore’s Jazz Awards
Mirroring the internationally renowned Gilmore Artist Awards for classical pianists, the Larry J. Bell Jazz Artists Awards provide some of the most generous financial support given in the musical arts. The Jazz Awards program was established in 2022 with an $8.8 million gift to The Gilmore’s endowment and is named for Kalamazoo businessman Larry J. Bell who founded Bell’s Brewery in 1985. Both the Bell Artist and Bell Young Artist Awards are presented every four years. The 2026 Bell Young Artists Awardees were announced last month; Tyler Bullock and Esteban Castro each received a stipend of $25,000.
“Jazz has been a part of my life for as long as I can remember, and supporting extraordinary artists has always been my passion. Sullivan Fortner is a pianist whose talent, vision, and heart will carry jazz forward. I’m proud that The Gilmore can help continue his journey and amplify his voice as he shapes the next chapter of jazz.” —Larry J. Bell, Past President of The Gilmore’s Board of Trustees
Hosted by radio personality Paul Cavalconte (WBGO/WQXR/WFUV), last night’s event featured Fortner’s first performance as a Bell Artist, followed by an onstage conversation led by SiriusXM Radio’s Mark Ruffin. The event was livestreamed at TheGilmore.org, as well as by The Gilmore’s streaming partners including WBGO Radio, All About Jazz, Steinway & Sons, International Piano, and Jazzwise.
Nomination and Selection of Bell Artist Awardees
Candidates for the Bell Artist Award are nominated confidentially by the Jazz Awards Nominating Committee, a large and diverse international assemblage of music professionals. The finalists among the candidates are then each evaluated for their career potential and musicianship in numerous live concert performances over a two-to-three-year period by Seth Abramson and an anonymous Jazz Artistic Advisory Committee representing a variety of professions and viewpoints in the jazz music world. The committee travels all over the world assessing the candidates’ concert performances over a sustained period, rather than judging their achievements during a concentrated period under tightly controlled conditions, as in a public competition. The process consists of countless hours of listening, thousands of miles traveled, and dozens of hours of debating with some of the most brilliant minds in the music industry.The Bell Artist Award is presented every four years on a non-competitive basis to an exceptional pianist who, regardless of age or nationality, is a profound musician with a breadth of musicianship and individual artistic voice inclusive of original compositions, and whose active recording and global touring career can use the enhancement that the Award’s prestige and funds provide.
The selection committee for the 2026 Bell Artist Award included Seth Abramson, The Gilmore Committee Chair; Joan A. Cararach, Artistic Director of Barcelona Jazz Festival; Vivian Chiu, Director of Cultural Partnerships and Artist Services at Steinway & Sons; Christopher Roberts, former President of the Classics and Jazz Division of Universal Music Group; Mark Ruffin, Program Director and On-Air Host for Real Jazz at Sirius XM Satellite Radio; and Wayne Winborne, Executive Director of the Institute of Jazz Studies at Rutgers University-Newark.
As a solo leader he has issued Aria (2015), Moments Preserved (2018) and Solo Game (2024) to critical acclaim, the latter receiving four-star reviews in DownBeat and France’s Telerama Magazine. In 2025, he released his trio recording Southern Nights featuring Peter Washington and Marcus Gilmore.
Winner of the 2024 DownBeat Critics Poll for Rising Star Jazz Group: Sullivan Fortner Trio, the prolific artist has enjoyed creative associations with Wynton Marsalis, Paul Simon, Diane Reeves, Etienne Charles and John Scofield; his frequent and longtime collaborators have included Ambrose Akinmusire, Dee Dee Bridgewater, Stefon Harris, Kassa Overall, Tivon Pennicott, Peter Bernstein, Nicholas Payton, Billy Hart, Gary Bartz, Chief Adjuah and the late Roy Hargrove.
Playing solo or leading an orchestra, Fortner engages harmony and rhythmic ideas through curiosity and clarity. Coming up in New Orleans, he began playing piano at age seven, earning his Bachelor of Music from Oberlin Conservatory and Master of Music in Jazz Performance from Manhattan School of Music (MSM). A champion of mentorship, Fortner has offered masterclasses at MSM, New Orleans Center for Creative Arts (NOCCA), Purdue University, Lafayette Summer Music Workshop, Belmont University and Oberlin Conservatory where he held a faculty position and subsequently returned as visiting professor of jazz piano.
Fortner has performed at Snug Harbor, New Orleans Center for the Creative Arts, Sweet Lorraine’s and The Jazz Playhouse in New Orleans, and Jazz at Lincoln Center, Jazz Standard and Smalls Jazz Club in New York City. He’s appeared at Newport, Monterey, Discover, Tri-C and The Gilmore Piano festivals. In 2019, Fortner brought his band to the historic Village Vanguard for a week-long engagement he would reprise in 2020 as a virtual performance during lockdown. His notable studio contributions include work on Etienne Charles’s Kaiso (Culture Shock, 2011), Donald Harrison’s Quantum Leap (FOMP, 2010), and Theo Croker’s The Fundamentals (Left Sided Music, 2007).
Fortner’s artistry preserves the tradition and evolves the sound. He seeks connections among different musical styles that are at once deeply soulful and wildly inventive. Both his works and his insights have been featured in culture drivers from The New York Times to The Root. Further accolades include the 2015 Cole Porter Fellowship awarded by the American Pianists Association, Leonore Annenberg Arts Fellowship, the 2016 Lincoln Center Award for Emerging Artists, the prestigious Shifting Foundation Grant in 2020 for artistic career development and the 2024 Western Jazz Presenters grant, which allowed him to tour the west coast with his trio. Fortner is a Steinway Artist.
Sullivan Fortner will perform two programs during the 2026 Gilmore Piano Festival, April 30–May 10, 2026, in Kalamazoo, Michigan.
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 over 40 new works for piano, and awarded over $3 million as part of its internationally renowned Gilmore Artists Award for both classical and jazz pianists. Based in Kalamazoo, Michigan, The Gilmore hosts its annual (previously biennial) Gilmore Piano Festival April 30-May 10, 2026, and continues to impact the lives of thousands of area children and adults through its year-round community engagement and music education programs including summer camps, music therapy, and much more.For more information contact AMT Public Relations.
