PROGRAM
John Cage (1912-1992) - Four Walls (1944)
BIO
Called “The Downtown Keyboard Magus” in The New Yorker, composer/pianist and Steinway Artist Jed Distler gained acclaim early in his career by transcribing jazz piano solos by Art Tatum and Bill Evans for publication. As a pianist championing new music, his recitals have offered premiers of works by Virgil Thomson, Richard Rodney Bennett, Frederic Rzewski, Alvin Curran, Lois V Vierk and many more. His master classes, lecture/demonstrations and work as a sought-after adjudicator have taken him across the United States and throughout Europe.
Distler’s presenting organization ComposersCollaborative, Inc earned a Guinness Record for world’s largest keyboard ensemble, featuring his works for 175 electronic keyboards. In 2021 Distler embarked on a multi-year project performing all of Mahler’s Symphonies and several Shostakovich Symphonies in four-hand arrangements around the globe, collaborating with Chantal Balestri, Gabriele Baldocci, Martina Frezzotti, Stewart Goodyear, Jerome Kuderna, Allison Brewster Franzetti, Drew Petersen, Cristian Sandrin, Risto-Matti Marin, Alexandra Papastefanou, Massimo Giuseppe Bianchi and others. He is preparing an original collection of 1,827 original piano bagatelles for the 2027 Beethoven anniversary year. Distler has recorded prolifically for the high-resolution Steinway Spirio player piano, while TNC Music released Distler’s solo piano CD “Fearless Monk.” (available from Bandcamp).
His fall 2025 tour included recitals and master classes in London, the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki, Piano Espoo, the Guido Agosti Piano Series in Forli, the Modena Conservatory of Music and the University of California. . From 1978 to 2002 he served as Music Director for the Sarah Lawrence College Theatre Department.
As Artist-in-Residence for WWFM.Org the Classical Network, Distler is the creator, host and producer of the 2017 ASCAP Deems Taylor Virgil Thomson Award winning radio program Between the Keys. He also hosts The Piano Maven, a friendly podcast guide to piano recordings, and provided live on-site television commentaries during the 19th International Warsaw Chopin Competition. Distler contributes reviews and articles to Gramophone and Classicstoday.com and has written numerous CD booklet notes for Sony/BMG and Universal Classics. Visit www.jeddistler.com.