Midwinter’s Gift, Released on November 4 features original arrangements for oboe and piano

(LANCASTER, PA November 22) Just eleven days after releasing their Christmas album, local musicians Kirstin Myers and Frances Drost, of the group Double Keyed, today share that their album has charted at 13 on the Billboard Classical Crossover Chart. The album features Myers on oboe and English Horn and Drost on piano. The album takes listeners on a moving journey through seasonal favorites such as O Come O Come Emmanuel and Carol of the Bells.

“Oboe and English horn are often used to capture the mystery and elegance of the season and I was surprised to find so few holiday albums featuring this duo,” said Myers. “The Billboard charts confirm what Frances and I suspected, the combination of oboe and piano at Christmastime is a beautiful way to celebrate the season,” said Myers.

Midwinter’s Gift features 10 original arrangements, commissioned by Double Keyed from Nashville’s Phillip Keveren and was recorded in August 2022 at Wildwood Recording in Franklin, TN. Keveren is co-author, major composer and orchestrator of the internationally acclaimed Hal Leonard Student Piano Library, a complete method of study for young students. At the recording session Keveren sensed the project was special and stated that the album was going to be “world class.” Now on the Billboard Charts, and currently sharing chart space with Andrea Bocelli and Lindsey Stirling, Keveren’s instinct about the album proved correct.

Particularly poignant is the arrangement of Carol of the Bells, a song of Ukrainian origin, which he began arranging for the album about a month after the war began. He saved this arrangement for last, considering it could be a "tour de force" for Myers and Drost. "I could not escape the feeling of sadness as I approached this Ukrainian carol," Keveren stated in an email to the duo. "It seemed appropriate to start with a lament before leaping into the up-tempo material." Myers describes the end as “unexpected and hopeful, which reflects how most of us would like the war in Ukraine to end.”

“'Midwinter's Gift is our gift, first to ourselves as musicians, secondly to our families and the most fun surprise gift of all—a placement on the Billboard charts,” said Frances Drost, featured pianist on the album. “We have filled a Christmas void and have provided an inspiring, elegant, and world class Christmas album” said Drost.

Midwinter’s Gift can be found on all major streaming services. Digital downloads and CDs can be purchased at www.doublekeyed.bandcamp.com