Jed Distler Returns to Q2 for a Month-Long Celebration of Beethoven

Oct. 27, 2011 - PRLog -- Composer, pianist and all-around keyboard maven Jed Distler returns to WQXR's internet stream Q2 as pianist-in-residence for Beethoven Awareness Month on Hammered!, November 7 - December 2, Monday through Friday 11:00 AM & 11:00 PM. Jed programs all of the one hour shows, and appears as host and commentator on four Monday segments (November 7, 14, 20, & 28).

At the core of the programming will be Beethoven's 32 piano sonatas, with each work played by a different pianist. Jed has mined his vast record collection for historic and modern performances that represent many schools of Beethoven playing, from unsung Russian icons like Maria Grinberg and Samuel Feinberg to rarities by Peter Serkin, Ernst Levy and Frederic Lamond. Listeners will have a rare chance to hear Charles Rosen¹s incomparable, long-out-of-print "Diabelli Variations" recording. There will also be plenty of music based upon or inspired by Beethoven, including works by Saint-Saëns, Schumann, Rzewski, plus Jed Distler himself reducing all 32 sonatas down to a 60-second piece, along with his dreamy rendition of the Ninth Symphony¹s "Ode to Joy" theme from the Musical Concepts release "Meditate with the Masters."

Beethoven has long has been part of Jed's multi-faceted musical life. He has reviewed countless Beethoven piano recordings as a regular contributor for Gramophone and Classicstoday.com. In 2001, Jed discussed nearly every recording of the Ninth Symphony for a comprehensive survey published in International Record Review. Three years later,  Jed played the "32 Variations in C Minor" live with the Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company at the Brooklyn Academy of Music. His aforementioned 60-second reduction of the sonatas was commissioned and recorded by Guy Livingston on his DVD "One Minute More."

Jed Distler is hailed as "an altogether extraordinary pianist" (“Newark Star-Ledger”) and New York's “Downtown keyboard magus” (“The New Yorker”). He has premiered works by Frederic Rzewski, Lois V. Vierk, and Virko Baley, among others, many written especially for him, and has received commissions from Jenny Lin, IonSound, and Song in Music.

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