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Randy Kerr and Lee Talner
Randy Kerr and Lee Talner have a lot in common. They both studied piano as kids. they both reached the pinnacles of their respective professions (technology in Randy’s case; medicine in Lee’s). They are both accomplished photographers. They have both enjoyed a life-long love-affair with music, as well—and for both of them, engagement with music began at the keys of a piano. And they both stepped off the UW World Series Advisory Board at the end of the 2013-14 season after many years of active service.
But that’s where the similarities end.
For Lee, those childhood piano lessons were pure torment. “I hated them!” he says. “Fortunately, I inherited my older brother’s trumpet and I stuck with that, playing in the high school band and orchestra.” He also enjoyed singing and joined a barbershop double quartet in college, later directing that ensemble. Classical music, however, was not on his playlist until his senior year of college. “I had a roommate who was a classical music fanatic. He literally forced me to listen to it. He even convinced me to be a guide at the Boston Symphony Orchestra’s Tanglewood summer music festival.”
That experience, which exposed Lee to lots of classical music at the highest level and the musicians who compose, conduct and play it (including Leonard Bernstein, Aaron Copland, Isaac Stern, Joseph Silverstein, Rudolph Serkin, Pierre Monteux and Charles Munch), turned him around. He became a passionate classical music lover, teaching himself to play Bach on the guitar, building his own harpsichord and—when his wife refused to learn to play the recorder so they could perform recorder and harpsichord duets together —learning to play it himself.
Indeed, the path that led Lee to the UW World Series and a devotion to Chamber Music was a circuitous one from Tanglewood, to medical school and radiology training at Yale, to a research fellowship in London, (where, on the side, he studied recorder with a leading pedagogue in the early music movement), to the faculty of the radiology department at UC San Diego—and that university’s chamber music series, where he eventually headed the committee that chose the artists to play on the series. Simultaneously he continued his intense parallel interest in early music, playing recorder and eventually the viola da gamba.
By the time he arrived in Seattle to direct the radiology department at Harborview in the mid-1990s, his friendship with members of the Emerson Quartet brought him, eventually, to Meany Hall and into the orbit of UWWS Founding Artistic Director, Matt Krashan. He joined the board in 1998 with the understanding that “there were two things I would NOT do: fundraising and phone calling.” Sixteen years later, Lee admits that his passion for the mission of the UW World Series has led him to do both of those things, with enthusiasm. “One thing I’ve learned during my years on the board is that we all find our own way to contribute, and often it will end up being in ways we never imagined at the start.”
Like Lee Talner, Randy Kerr also took piano lessons as a child—unlike Lee, however, he took to it from the start. In fact, Randy was so dedicated a student that he found himself at age 15 playing for his idol, Andre Watts, in a master class in Michigan. “I performed the Chopin Ballade No. 1 in G minor, a piece which was definitely on the outer limits of my technical ability,” Randy recalls. After Randy finished the piece, Watts' points of instruction and animated illustrations were the perfect balance of encouragement and tough love—not to mention brute strength!
“My ascending G minor scales were evidently nowhere near the triple-forte intensity he wanted,” Randy says. “So as I played the passage, Mr. Watts got up from his seat, crouched behind me, and thrust his arms into my back bellowing, ‘more... more... MORE’” with such power that Randy’s 110-lb. frame was nearly catapulted over the keyboard and onto the piano strings under the lid.
After the class, Randy asked Andre Watts to autograph his copy of the piece he’d played, planning to frame it to preserve the memory of such a moment; sadly, he waited too long to do it. A few months later when leaving his weekly piano lesson, Randy rested his stack of music on top of the car while opening the door for the drive home. It wasn’t until 15 miles later he realized he’d left the music on top--all was lost, including that Chopin edition signed by Mr. Watts.
Since that day 34 years ago, Randy hoped his and Andre Watts' paths might cross again so he’d be able to get another copy of that score autographed—and eventually they did.
Not, however, before Randy’s own path took him through many years in the tech industry, at Microsoft, Nokia, and various startups before founding his own media production company 16 years ago. He joined the Advisory Board of the UW World Series in 2006.
Then on April 16, 2014, Randy got his wish when Andre Watts came to play on the stage at Meany Hall. Afterwards, Randy, as UWWS Board President, attended the after-concert dinner party, where he recounted the story of the master class and his lost music to an amused Andre Watts. He then presented Watts with a new copy of the Chopin score. “Mr. Watts got quite a kick out of it,” Randy says. “He couldn’t have been more friendly and gracious. His new signature reads: ‘OK! For the SECOND time, please put your shoulder blades into it!! Best wishes, Andre.’"
Both Randy and Lee are leaving the Advisory Board on a high note, having accomplished so much during their time with the UW World Series. Lee has contributed thousands of photographs of UWWS in action over the years, from artists performing on-stage to behind-the-scenes residencies, master classes, and K-12 educational activities. You can see them hanging in the Meany Hall lobby and in countless programs, season brochures and promotional materials over the past 16 years. Randy, meanwhile, provided critical leadership as board president during the pivotal transition when Founding Artistic Director Matt Krashan retired and current director, Michelle Witt, took up the reins.
Now Randy has his autographed Chopin Ballade No. 1 in G minor at last, and Lee is retiring to his beloved San Diego (with the occasional visit north). Both are moving on to new adventures, but we expect their involvement in classical music—and in the UW World Series, as members of our Emeritus Board—will continue for many years to come.
Thank you Randy and Lee—you made a world of difference!