Jed Distler Set for 60th Birthday Recital at Symphony Space

Pianist, composer, and critic Jed Distler marks his 60th birthday with a recital on Thursday, December 8 (7 pm) as part of Symphony Space's STEINWAY SALON series, which Distler curates.

Says Distler, "What an honor, indeed, what an ego trip - to play a recital of my own music on my 60th birthday, at Symphony Space, just around the corner from where I've made my home since 1980. The works on this program span the past 30 years, including those of two composers and pianists whose influence and friendship I cherish to this day, Frederic Rzewski and Andrew Thomas."

It takes place at the Leonard Nimoy Thalia; tickets are $15, available at symphonyspace.org.

The program reflects Distler's eclectic sensibility, encompassing Billie Holiday, Jimi Hendrix, and his own idiosyncratic brand of modernism:

Calypso for Piano (1988) by Jed Distler (b. 1956)

Two Transcriptions from A Billie Holiday Songbook, arr. Distler
I'm a Fool to Want You (1951) by Frank Sinatra/Jack Wolf/Joel Herron
Strange Fruit (1939) by Abel Meeropol

Music at Twilight (1986) by Andrew Thomas (b. 1939)

Birthday Bagatelle (2015) by Jed Distler

Fantasy (1989) by Frederic Rzewski (b. 1938)

The Anthem at Woodstock (1996) by Jed Distler

Distler's Calypso for Piano is based on a traditional calypso song, which is put through some highly virtuosic and imaginative transformations. His Two Billie Holiday Transcriptions, commissioned by Steinway & Sons, commemorate the immortal singer's centenary (2015); they have been recorded by pianist Lara Downes. Andrew Thomas's Music at Twilight was composed for Distler; in Thomas's words, they evoke "the half-light and gathering darkness of evening by a pond on the edge of a forest."

Distler wrote Birthday Bagatelle, a 12-tone work, for pianist Suzanne Kessel's international commissioning project 250 Piano Pieces for Beethoven. Rzewski's Fantasy "draws inspiration from a beloved song that manifests itself in multilayered counterpoint," according to Distler. And in The Anthem at Woodstock, the composer attempts the impossible: "to translate guitar legend Jimi Hendrix's feedback and effect-induced performance of America's national anthem in acoustic piano terms."

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Called "an altogether extraordinary pianist" in the Newark Star-Ledger and "the downtown keyboard magus" in the New Yorker, Jed Distler's new music recitals have taken him across the United States and Europe and feature many composers who have written works especially for him. In the 1980s Jed worked closely with dance legend Jacques D'Amboise and, more recently, played Beethoven with the Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company at the Brooklyn Academy Of Music, and has performed with singers as diverse as Phyllis Bryn-Julson and KT Sullivan. In 2012 Jed launched a solo piano project encompassing jazz icon Thelonious Monk's complete songs in a single concert, and has performed it in New York, Las Vegas, Berkeley, Italy and Germany. Jed conceived and programmed 100 Portraits for Virgil, the first complete performance of all the Virgil Thomson piano portraits in a day long, multi-media festival featuring thirty six performers, co-produced by the New School and Composers Collaborative, the latter for whom he serves as artistic director.

His compositions are characterized by audacity, subtle craftsmanship, fresh harmonic ideas, agile counterpoint and a rare sense of humor. His forays into piano theater combine acting and instrumental virtuosity in novel, original ways that have raised the bar for this genre. In addition to commissions from Symphony Space, Jenny Lin, IonSound, the American Composers Forum and Song in Music, Jed's works have been recorded by Margaret Leng Tan, Guy Livingston, and Quattro Mani, among other New Music luminaries. His String Quartet No. 1 (the Mister Softee Variations) remains an annual summertime tradition on New York Public Radio. Current projects include a chamber opera Tools, in collaboration with writer Luigi Ballerini and artist Maria Scarpini, plus Country Music, an ongoing series of transcriptions, variation sets and paraphrases for solo piano based on every existing national anthem.

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In the New Year, the Steinway Salon series continues with a distinguished array of keyboard masters, one per month through June 2017. All concerts take place on Thursdays at 7 pm in the Leonard Nimoy Thalia. For more information, visit symphonyspace.org.

Thursday, February 2: André Laplante. The International Tchaikovsky Competition silver medalist plays Ravel's Sonatine, plus Beethoven's Op. 81a "Les Adieux,"
Liszt's Tre Sonetti del Petrarca and Vallée d'Obermann, plus other works.

Thursday, March 2: Max Barros. As part of the Source Project, Brazilian-American pianist Max Barros performs Brazilian music for the piano, including Heitor Villa-Lobos's Three African Dances and Almeida Prado's Sonata No. 5.

Thursday, April 13: Meral Guneyman. Music by Bill Evans, Billie Holiday, George Gershwin, Duke Ellington, and Virgil Thomson. "Guneyman plays everything with assurance and sympathy and a big bold sound" (Boston Globe).

Thursday, May 11: Lisa Moore. A special program, The Pleasures of Being Lost, curated by John Luther Adams, spotlighting piano works by composers who have influenced and informed Adams's work. Composers include Peter Garland, Lois V Vierk, Jim Fox, Michael Byron, David Mahler, and Adams himself. Part of the John Luther Adams Residency.

Thursday, June 8: Klara Min. Preludes by Scriabin and Chopin, plus The Birds of Barclay Street by Sean Hickey. "Brilliant playing...intuitive musicianship...sensitive and polished" (Classic FM London).

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Symphony Space traces its beginnings to a free marathon concert, Wall to Wall Bach, held in 1978 and organized by co-founders Isaiah Sheffer and Allan Miller. The music marathon then drew thousands of visitors and has since become one of the organization's signature events. Today Symphony Space presents more than 600 events each season, including music, dance, theater, film, and literary readings. Some of its best known programs include Selected Shorts, a reading of short stories by stars of stage and screen, and one of the most popular series on public radio; National Theatre in HD,broadcasting the best of British theatre to cinemas around the world; and Just Kidding, one of the most talked about family entertainment series around town. Uptown Showdown has been called "New York's best comedy series" by New York Magazine. For more information, visit symphonyspace.org.

Symphony Space is located at 2537 Broadway at 95th Street. Box office hours are Tuesday through Sunday, 1 pm - 6 pm, open two hours prior to performances and events. Tickets can also be purchased through www.symphonyspace.org, or by calling 212/864-5400.