Richard Herr

Recently we were infom of the passing of longtime friend and programmer here at KZYX, Richard Herr.

Richard was the host of the long running Chamber Music Showcase and delighted everyone who listened or knew him with his quick rye wit and an absorbing personality. 

Fellow KZYX programmer Alan Kendall had this to say about Richard during his Ensemble program,

Here in the Mendocino region we were saddened to learn of the death of Richard Herr, dearly beloved member of our music community.  Many of us knew Richard as longtime host of Chamber Music Showcase, here on KZYX.  Others knew him a musician: both violinist and violist, and as both chamber music and symphony player.

Personally I knew Richard from my earliest days playing with Symphony of the Redwoods, at which time he was Principal of the second violin section.  He was a good player, and a good leader.  I remember how he liked to rotate seating in the section, giving all the players in turn the opportunity to share first chair with him.  My favorite memory of him is from the time when the orchestra was first learning Sibelius' Fifth Symphony, when suddenly Richard exclaimed, Hey, that's the Beethoven Ninth! referring to a theme that was indeed the exact same notes as the opening of Ode to Joy.  Sibelius however had used that scrap of a theme in a manner so different from Beethoven, both harmonically and rhythmically, that none of the rest of us had thought to make the connection that Richard had.  Recognition of the connection gave that passage of the Sibelius a resonance, and an emotional significance, that would otherwise have passed us by.