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In Memoriam: John Gesinski

Scores of pianists who borrow music from the Music Library no doubt have seen the name “John Peter Gesinski” inscribed on the title pages. They may have wondered, as I once did, as to the identity of this person whose signature appeared on so many pieces of music in the collection.

John Gesinski taught piano and was the accompanist for ballet classes at the UW–Madison Dance Program for more than thirty years. A victim of failing eyesight, John was also one of only two North American music Braille transcriptionists and worked for both the Library of Congress and the Canadian National Institute for the Blind. He died suddenly on 14 September, the victim of a hit-and-run accident.

Gesinski’s first donation came to the Music Library in 1988 and consisted of hundreds of scores—primarily piano music, but also cantatas, symphonic works, and assorted others. In the summer of 2003, he called to say that he had another gift and asked if we could pick it up. In early September, four staff members and a van made our way to his home, where we packed and loaded 2,225 scores, 102 books, 321 music journals, and a large selection of piano pedagogy materials, under the watchful eye of Clara, his little white dog.

After that time, the Music Library had the good fortune to be included among John’s email pals and received countless witty—and thoughtful—missives on a variety of topics. Last spring, he included a number of photos capturing the lovely flowers in his yard, a reflection of another of his passions, gardening.

John was unusually modest about his gifts—both the personal and material ones. “I have shared music in a lot of ways: performing, teaching, and transcribing. I thought this is another way of passing it on.”

In another email he wrote, “I’m honored to be able to take the best of a Glorious Past and add to it the best of the Present, passing it on with joy to those who will build the music of the Future, and the audiences of both adults and children to whom I opened a world of classical music; of so many scores of students, both children and adults, who discovered how much fun and how rewarding Music is--each of these makes one so happy at the sharing. I say this not to Blow the Usually Quite Unwelcome Horn of personal vanity, but to be reminded yet again of how wonderful Music is, and of the myriad ways its magic might be spread.”

“I have another opportunity to share. I hope this gift is an impetus to others to say, ‘We could do something like this.’”