March 26th 2019 marks the ASCAP Deems Taylor Virgil Thomson Award winning program Between the Keys’ fourth anniversary.
“I can’t believe how much time has gone by,” says The Classical Network’s Artist-in-Residence Jed Distler, who has produced, written and hosted Between the Keys since it launched back in March 2015. “And when I look at the range of programming and the variety of special guests we’ve had, I’m all the more amazed.”
Unlike most of Distler’s thematic, conceptual or guest-oriented programs, the March 26th anniversary episode bounces all over the musical map, going off on multiple tangents that may not seem to relate to one another on the surface.
“For example, you’ll hear me talk about how recordings often fuel my creative process,” Distler explains. “I’ll offer some quick comparisons between performers of the Tchaikovsky First Piano Concerto’s infamous octave passage in the finale. Then I’ll showcase Ewa Poblocka’s genius new Bach Well-Tempered Clavier Book One. You’ll hear a terrific Michael Harrison piece for piano and tabla, along with several of my goofier original works. I then try to build a bridge between a Bach Two-Part Invention and jazz icon Lennie Tristano’s C Minor Complex. Whether or not I’ll find common ground between Allan Evans’ reissue of traditional Gamelan recordings circa 1928 and Mussorgsky is an open question. But you’ll also hear the wonderful soprano Darryn Zimmer sing Charles Wakefield Cadman, with myself at the piano.”
Yet, in a certain sense, this special anniversary episode encapsulates Distler’s multi-faceted creativity and bountiful musical life as a composer, pianist, writer and radio host.
So tune in this Tuesday night March 26th at 10, and join Jed Distler in celebrating Between the Keys’ anniversary. This program is an exclusive production of The Classical Network and WWFM.Org, and is proudly sponsored by Jacobs Music Company.