An Evening of Pianola, with Randolph Herr and Maria Elena Gonzalez
This program includes the live world premiere of Skowhegan Birch #1 (from the Tree Talk series) 2012, by artist Maria Elena Gonzalez, executed on a player piano by the renowned  interpreter Randolph Herr. This work is included in a video version in MAD exhibition Against the Grain: Wood in Contemporary Art, Craft and Design. It was created by Gonzalez from the bark of a fallen birch tree she found in the summer artist colony in Skowhegan, Maine. Gonzalez had the striations in the bark scanned and digitally cut onto scrolls for piano rolls by the company, Laser Cutting Shapes, in Columbus, Ohio. The result is literally a sound created directly from a tree. Randolph Herr, who is featured in the video presentation of this "score" in the exhibition, interprets and performs this work on player piano, along with other selections.