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 pays tribute to four major musicians who left us during the past few weeks.
“Little can be added to what’s been said these past few weeks about Michael Tilson-Thomas’s extraordinary career,” says Jed. “And the same goes for Ruth Slenczynska’s remarkable life.”
Michael Harrison’s innovative work with alternate tunings and deep involvement with the traditions of Hindustani music provided roots for his own powerfully expressive creative output. “My organization ComposersCollaborative, Inc. had the honor of presenting the New York premier of Michael’s magnum piano opus ‘Revelation’ back in 2001, and we’ll hear excerpts from this monumental opus on the program”
Lastly, Jed pays tribute to the composer and educator Andrew Thomas, whose wide-ranging compositions have been performed worldwide. For many years he was the director of the Pre-College at the Juilliard School. “Andy was my principal composition teacher,” Jed says, “and he had a decisive influence on me during my formative years. In 1986 he wrote his gorgeous piano piece ‘Music at Twilight’ for me, and we’ll hear an archival recording of my performance from 1988 this hour.”
Tune in to Between the Keys, this Friday at 3:00 PM, with the rebroadcast Saturday at 6:00 PM, exclusively on The Classical Network and WWFM.org.
