who is double keyed?

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From her early beginnings that were peppered with encouragement from her mother to play the piano, Newville Pennsylvania’s own singer/songwriter, Frances Drost, has paved a fascinating path with her musical career. During her childhood, Frances’s empathetic nature absorbed several tragedies in her family. Her intense feelings combined with her musical gifts have created a positive way of channeling her grief. In this episode, Frances discusses not only the impact her family has had on her life, but how she has been heavily influenced and inspired by Nashville artists and producers. 

 Frances’s passion to help others has been a common thread throughout her life. This is exemplified with her involvement as a worship leader, a songwriter for Songs of Love – a nonprofit organization that connects songwriters with terminally ill children, a pianist with Center Stage at Penn State Hershey Medical Center and with her creation of an interactive Facebook show called Hit Pause during the Covid shutdown which provided inspiration for many homebound people.   

As you will hear, Frances exudes a love and passion for creating and performing music. This passion helped her work through not only the hurdles she encountered throughout her own life, but the challenges that the Covid shutdown presented all musicians. Her musical innovation has not only helped her career but has helped her many fans and friends navigate troubling times.   

Recording since 2000 and with 9 released albums under her belt, Frances will be releasing her 10th album, Midwinter's Gift,  co-produced with LBTN's Kirstin Myers on November 4th, 2022.  

We know you will enjoy getting to know Frances’s life…between the notes.

The Spark’s Aniya Faulcon spoke with two local musicians who make up the classical music duo Double Keyed. Oboe and English horn player Kirstin Myers and pianist Frances Drost share what it was like to chart at 13 on the Billboard Classical Crossover chart just 11 days after the release of their Midwinter’s Gift Christmas album.

A live performance video from the 2019 Portraits of White Concert.

Midwinter was a title that presented itself early on when we were creating the album, “Midwinter's Gift”, based on the lovely song, “In The Bleak Midwinter”, written in the 1800's. From the very beginning, we both felt as if this album idea was a gift to each other as musicians, our families and new arrangements for the oboe community. Putting the words midwinter and gift together seemed like a natural progression. You'll appreciate the unfolding of the journey from bleakness to beauty in this new video featuring the title track.  

"In the bleak midwinter, 

Frosty wind made moan, 

Earth stood hard as iron, 

Water like a stone; 

Snow had fallen, snow on snow, 

Snow on snow, 

In the bleak midwinter, 

Long ago." 

— Christina Georgiana Rossetti (1830-1894)