Between the Keys with Jed Distler

Episode 297 of the ASCAP Deems Taylor Virgil Thomson Award winning program Between the Keys centers upon the art of Vladimir Sofronitsky, a pianist who amassed a cult following in his native Russia, yet whose Western reputation remains somewhat shadowy.

The Classical Network’s Artist-in-Residence Jed Distler has put together a program featuring a wide range of Sofronitsky’s recordings, including works by Borodin, Chopin, Schumann, Schubert, Rachmaninov, Liadov and, of course, Alexander Scriabin.

On Episode 296 of the ASCAP Deems Taylor/Virgil Thomson Award winning program Between the Keys, The Classical Network’s Artist-in-Residence Jed Distler invites listeners on a cinematic musical tour with the piano in tow.

On Episode 295 of the ASCAP Deems Taylor/Virgil Thomson Award winning program Between the Keys, The Classical Network’s Artist-in-Residence Jed Distler takes listeners for a journey “Under the Radar.”

“Under the Radar means many things,” says Distler. “Unusual repertoire. pianists who deserve more attention, or recordings that you might not be aware of. Or all of the above.”

On Episode 294 of the ASCAP Deems Taylor/Virgil Thomson Award winning program Between the Keys, The Classical Network’s Artist-in-Residence Jed Distler features symphonic music transcribed for piano duet, either with four hands at one piano or involving two pianos.

On Episode 293 of the ASCAP Deems Taylor/Virgil Thomson Award winning program Between the Keys, The Classical Network’s Artist-in-Residence Jed Distler presents all twelve of Chopin’s Etudes Op. 25, in performances by different pianists

“We’ll hear at least one interpretation of each etude with a different pianist, yet not repeating a pianist,” Distler explains. “The artists represent many generations of Chopin playing, with pianists born between 1874 and 1982.”

On Episode 292 of the ASCAP Deems Taylor/Virgil Thomson Award winning program Between the Keys, The Classical Network’s Artist-in-Residence Jed Distler pays tribute to pianist Alfred Brendel, who celebrated his 90th birthday on January 5th. Although Brendel retired from concertizing in 2008, his recorded legacy remains a vast and wide-ranging musical testament.

For Episode 291 of the ASCAP Deems Taylor/Virgil Thomson Award winning program Between the Keys, The Classical Network’s Artist-in-Residence Jed Distler features a wide variety of pianists in selections from Books One and Two of J.S. Bach’s Well-Tempered Clavier.

“The 48 Preludes and Fugues not only are the foundation of piano music,” says Distler, “they also embody the full gamut of emotions, and always convey a sense of order, which is something we so desperately need in these challenging days.”

For Episode 290 of the ASCAP Deems Taylor/Virgil Thomson Award winning program Between the Keys, The Classical Network’s Artist-in-Residence Jed Distler pays tribute to friends and colleagues who helped lift his sprits in a troubled year, as well as those who are no longer with us.

The Classical Network’s Artist-in-Residence Jed Distler rings in 2021 with an eclectic playlist on his ASCAP Deems Taylor/Virgil Thomson Award winning program Between the Keys.

How do such playlists evolve?

As the Beethoven 250th anniversary year winds down, we continue our two-part survey of Schubert’s Impromptus on the ASCAP Deems Taylor Award winning program Between the Keys.

The Classical Network’s Artist-in-Residence Jed Distler has picked four recordings of each Impromptu from Schubert’s D. 935 ( or Op. 142), each with a different pianist: Annie Fischer, Rudolf Firkusny, Massimo Giuseppe Bianchi and Rudolf Serkin. Also featured will be impromptus by Bernard Rands, Jean Sibelius and Georges Enescu.

As Beethoven’s 250th anniversary celebrations wind down in this unprecedented year, there’s nothing like the first lyric poet of music to calm the nerves and warm the heart.

Yes, we’re talking about Franz Schubert.

The Classical Network’s Artist-in-Residence Jed Distler will offer the composer’s complete Impromptus D. 899 and D. 935 in a two part “Impromptu Session” mini-series on the ASCAP Deems Taylor/Virgil Thomson Award winning program Between the Keys.

“Originally I planned to present a Beethoven 250th anniversary program this week,” explained the Classical Network’s Artist-in-Residence Jed Distler. “But I kept thinking that maybe instead I should look back on this crazy year, and reflect on the musical milestones. Which, of course, include Beethoven, but not exclusively.”

On Episode 285 of the ASCAP Deems Taylor/Virgil Thomson Award winning program Between the Keys, The Classical Network’s Artist-in-Residence Jed Distler offers a program devoted to the New, the Old and the Unexpected. A wide variety of music is in store, featuring an eclectic roster of pianists including Egon Petri, Roland Pöntinen, Stan Freeman,  Cy Walter, Eduardus Halim, Marcelle Meyer, Francis Poulenc, and the young Liberace, among many others

The Classical Network’s Artist-in Residence Jed Distler starts out Episode 284 of the ASCAP Deems Taylor/Virgil Thomson Award winning program Between the Keys with an exploration of Beethoven’s “greatest hit,” the piano bagatelle Für Elise.

“First we’ll hear a relative ‘normal’ performance by Artur Schnabel ,” says Distler, “followed by what may be the most perverse and willful interpretation of this work ever recorded. But I won’t tell you who is playing, you’ll have to tune in to find out. And as you listen, you may get angry or irritated , but you won’t be bored!”

Some may think that the old saying “those who can, do; those who can’t, teach” applies to piano teachers. Yet the fact is that some of the world’s most influential piano teachers happened to be great pianists and artists in their own right.

On this week’s episode of the ASCAP Deems Taylor Virgil Thomson Award winning program Between the Keys, The Classical Network’s Artist-in-Residence Jed Distler “goes mazurk.” As in “mazurkas.”

“As longtime listeners know, I am obsessed by the Chopin Mazurkas,” says Distler. “And perhaps even more obsessed with the wide range of Mazurka playing on record, and with comparing different pianists in the same works.”

Charles Coleman’s e vocative piano composition Lay Bare the Heart is just one of the major offerings this week on Episode No. 279 of the ASCAP Deems Taylor Virgil Thomson Award winning program Between the Keys, hosted by the Classical Network’s Artist-in Residence Jed Distler.

This particularly eclectic episode also features works by Margaret Bonds, Erkki-Sven Tuur, Alan Hovhaness and Niels Viggo Bentzon , along with music by Chopin, Rachmaninov and Brahms.

For episode No. 278 of the ASCAP Deems Taylor Virgil Thomson Award winning program Between the Keys, the Classical Network’s Artist-in-Residence Jed Distler showcases the artistry of one of the 20th century’s most versatile pianists, Noel Mewton-Wood.

Episode No. 276 of the ASCAP Deems Taylor Virgil Thomson Award winning program Between the Keys is titled “A Higher Calling.” For this program, The Classical Network's Artist-in-Residence Jed Distler showcases pianists either who were or whom still are priests, monks and nuns.

Featured performers include pianists Thierry de Brunhoff, Jean-Rodolphe Kars, and Sean Duggan, as well as the composer/pianist Andrew Violette, plus an excerpt from the only commercial recording by the Immaculate Heart Trio.

Episode No. 275 of the ASCAP Deems Taylor Virgil Thomson Award winning program Between the Keys finds The Classical Network’s Artist-in-Residence Jed Distler serving up tangos and tarantellas for the piano.

For Episode No. 274 of the ASCAP Deems Taylor Virgil Thomson Award winning program Between the Keys, The Classical Network’s Artist-in-Residence Jed Distler creates a mini-recital featuring four diverse and substantial works.

Episode No. 273 of the ASCAP Deems Taylor Virgil Thomson Award winning program Between the Keys welcomes special guest pianist and composer Geoffrey Burleson, in conversation with The Classical Network’s Artist-in-Residence Jed Distler.

Episode No. 272 of the ASCAP Deems Taylor Virgil Thomson Award winning program Between the Keys finds The Classical Network’s Artist-in-Residence Jed Distler answering the musical question: “Where’s the Orchestra?”

Episode No. 271 of the ASCAP Deems Taylor Virgil Thomson Award winning program Between the Keys finds The Classical Network’s Artist-in-Residence Jed Distler in a creative programming mood.

On Friday August 28th from 8:00 PM to 10:00 PM, The Classical Network's Artist-in-Residence Jed Distler hosts a special two-hour program celebrating the centenary and artistry of conductor Guido Cantelli, who was born April 27th 1920.

On this week’s episode  (No. 270) of the ASCAP Deems Taylor Virgil Thomson Award winning program Between the Keys the Classical Network’s Artist-in-Residence Jed Distler presents a wide variety of short works for piano and orchestra by William Thomas McKinley, W.A. Mozart, E. J. Moeran, Elliott Carter and Edward Burlingame Hill.

Between the Keys is an exclusive production of The Classical Network and WWFM.org