Sidney Finkelstein (changed later to Foster) was born in Florence and lived on West Evans Street. He attended the famed Curtis Institute of Music and played at Carnegie Hall numerous times. He had the aplomb of Horowitz and the instincts of a composer. All of his recordings, the few that were made, exude meaning. But you might have not heard of this South Carolina native because he dedicated his life to his students. You will hear about Foster through the voices of students, Carlisle Floyd, Hans

Composer and writer Katharine Norman's piece is about aging and memory loss. It comes from a set of pieces influenced by a Bach Fugue, "a compositional teacher," as Katharine Norman puts it. Her mother was her first piano teacher and now she is a suffering from Alzheimers. In the piece, Katharine Norman is remembering her first piano lessons with her, because her mother can't remember them any longer. The pianist is Xenia Pestova. About the Your Compositions segment of On the Keys : This part of

Jon Grier's piece Pisgah Songs captures the beauty of the NC National forests. The poets kindly allowed their poems to be posted below. Looking Glass (Keller Cushing Freeman) I send you winter love: ice crystals glittering like mica in the stiff red clay; the caught breath of a silent creek, turned glass by last night's cold; the oldest stars shivering light from distances re-marked in years; lines a severe wind drew and then erased, tracks a-cross the landscape of a face, a bare December heart,

On this two-part series on tonality and sonata form, David Kiser gives the microphone over to Professor of Piano at Converse College, Douglas Weeks who guides us through the sonatas of Mozart and Beethoven. In the course of this series you’ll learn about tonality and the importance of key structure. Douglas Weeks likens it to moving to different rooms of the house, where “Tonic” is the hearth, home base, the center of the house. Below is Part Two. Find Part One and a comprehensive list of terms

On this two-part series on tonality and sonata form, David Kiser gives the microphone over to Professor of Piano at Converse College, Douglas Weeks who guides us through the sonatas of Mozart and Beethoven. In the course of this series you’ll learn about tonality and the importance of key structure. Douglas Weeks likens it to moving to different rooms of the house, where “Tonic” is the hearth, home base, the center of the house. The podcast will be posted after the show airs on Thursday,

Ivan Moshchuk is a Detroit based pianist and winner of the 2010 Gilmore Young Artist award. He is also a fine composer, or was a composer. Hear his lovely piece, Album Leaf that's reminiscent of Sergei Rachmaninoff and learn why he can't focus on too many things at once. Currently he is a pianist, but let's hope this program is an encouragement to him to continue composing. Piano Concerto any one? His personal audio diary and a recording of the piece will be posted after the show airs Thursday,

This week on On the Keys , the Canadian composer Chris Harman's piano piece After Schumann I will be featured on the Your Compositions movement of the show. Have you written piano piece after the year 2000? Your Compositions is open to submissions. Please send inquires to host David Kiser at [email protected]. After Schumann, like the title suggests is highly accessible, modern music inspired by the Album for the Young by Schumann. Mei Yi Foo gives a lovely performance of this 10 minute