Mano-a-Mano, 3-Day Festival of Piano Virtuosos in New York

New York, NY, July 23, 2011 --(PR.com)-- Next month composer/pianist Jed Distler, Artistic Director of ComposersCollaborative Inc., hosts the Mano-a-Mano Piano Festival, three nights of piano virtuosos at The Cornelia Street Café in New York City's Greenwich Village neighborhood. On night one, Sunday August 21st, recitalist and founding member of the Maybeck Trio, California-based pianist, Jerry Kuderna will be featured for a rare New York solo appearance. On night two, Monday August 22nd, jazz soloist, group leader, educator and winner of Juilliard's George Gershwin Memorial Prize, William Komaiko will be accompanied by bassist Dick Sarpola. And on the final night, Tuesday August 23, the acclaimed Taiwan born Juilliard trained pianist, Jung Lin will be rejoining Distler for an encore performance of Dutch composer Simeon Ten Holt's “Canto Ostinato,” an epic minimalist masterpiece they presented in 2009 at the annual Make Music New York Festival.

“Mano-a-Mano, literally translated means hand to hand. In piano playing, that can mean combat or competition, but for me it means collaboration and interaction. All three artists, Kuderna, Komaiko and Lin, represent significant signposts in my own musical journey,” explains Distler. He met William Komaiko at Sarah Lawrence where he attended Komaiko's chamber music improvisation class. Seeking technical possibilities for developing a big keyboard sound and fluency, Distler took private piano classes with Komaiko. "Bill freed my hands," says Distler.

“Jerry Kuderna was the first person who wanted to play my piano music, when I was just starting out, trying to make my way as a composer/pianist. ... A few years later we began to play piano duos, and to spend just one minute in Jerry’s company equals one month of piano camp.”

“When I first asked Jung to play Canto Ostinato outdoors on Cornelia Street for the 2009 Make Music New York event, I hadn't realized that her catholic repertoire and uncanny virtuosity had not yet extended into new music. Yet she showed up as if she‟d been playing Canto forever,” says Distler, adding “I may have encouraged Jung back in her student days, but she‟s now the one who keeps me pianistically honest in my upper-middle-age, and inspires me to practice.”

Called “an altogether extraordinary pianist” (Newark Star-Ledger), and New York's “Downtown keyboard magus" (The NewYorker), Jed Distler has hosted Serial Underground, a New Music variety series at The Cornelia Street Café since 2004 and Q2‟s “Hammered!” (WQXR).

All festival performances start at 8:30pm and take place at The Cornelia Street Café, 29 Cornelia Street, New York, NY 10014. $10 music charge plus a one drink minimum. Cash only. For reservations call 212-989-9319.

More About the Performing Artists:

Jerry Kuderna has premiered works by Milton Babbitt, Claudio Spies, John Selleck, and Robert Helps, many written especially for the pianist. Kuderna recorded Babbitt‟s “Phenomena for Soprano and Piano” (with Lynne Webber) for the New World Records historic anthology of American Music series, and more recently Roger Session‟s “Third Piano Sonata.”

A favorite soloist with the Berkeley Symphony under Kent Nagano and George Thomson, Kuderna recently performed works by Brewbaker, and Ustvolskaya, plus Elliott Carter‟s monumental Piano Concerto (1964-65). Recent solo appearances include Irving Fine memorial concert at Brandeis University recital appearances and a recital celebrating the centennial the Cuban-Spanish composer, Joaquin Nin-Culmell.

William Komaiko's music is cited for “beautiful shifting colors -- like a Calder mobile” (Leighton Kerner, The Village Voice) with pianists comparisons: “Ahmad Jamal, Glenn Gould, Thelonious Monk,” (John S. Wilson, The New York Times). His concert music has been presented by Pierre Boulez, Paul Dunkel, Christian Badea, and the National Symphony Orchestra at the Kennedy Center. Komaiko's recent performance of “Rhapsody in Blue” will air on Minnesota Public Television.

Bassist Dick Sarpola‟s extensive background recording and performances include collaborations with George Shearing, Mel Torme, Susannah McCorkle, and Peggy Lee among others.

A native of Taiwan, Jung Lin conducted her own orchestral works at age 12, won numerous competitions in her native country, and was featured on Taiwan‟s major news program “90 minutes.” At sixteen her symphonic poem, “The Black Wedding” was given its premiere by the Juilliard Symphony under Miguel Harth-Bedoya. A student of American composer David Diamond and the eminent pianist Martin Canin, her music has taken her all over the world. Her recording of Nicolai Medtner‟s complete Fairy Tales is scheduled for release from Naxos.

A Yamaha artist, Jed Distler has premiered works by Frederic Rzewski, Lois V. Vierk, Virko Baley, and Wendy Mae Chambers, among others -- many written especially for him. In addition to recent commissions from Jenny Lin, IonSound, and Song in Music, his works have been recorded by Margaret Leng Tan, Guy Livingston, and Quattro Mani, among other New Music luminaries. His new CD, “Meditate with the Masters” (Musical Concepts) was released January of this year.

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