Dear Mr. Kravitz, I am so saddened by the passing of Randolph Herr.
Thank you for posting Vincent Morgan's announcement, which is how
I found out. Randolph was a unique and extraordinary human being.
I am privileged to have known him and to work with him -- he gave
life to my tree music.
From the markings of a birch tree I made a player piano roll,
"Skowhegarn Birch #1", which Randolph played. We were fortunate
also that he performed it live at the Museum of Arts and Design
(MAD), nearly one year ago, on March 14, 2013. Here is a link from
the Museum's web site to Randolph's live performance; he started
with Bach, then my piece, and on to other glorious music.
http://madmuseum.org/video/evening-pianola-randolph-herr-and-maria-elena-gonzalez
As a friend of mine who attended the museum performance put it,
"I feel so fortunate to have attended the performance at MAD. Besides
hearing the astounding music you discovered in the bark, I had the
pleasure of watching a man of intelligence, skill and humor engage in
an art form that gave him abundant joy -- which he generously shared."
He will be greatly missed.
With kind regards,
Maria Elena Gonzalez
New York City
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