When I was a child, all piano teachers seemed old to me. Now that I am old, the time has come to tell my stories about my professional adventures from all over the world. These stories tell about my journey from the cornfields of Mississippi to the opera houses of Germany, where I worked in theaters as a ballet accompanist and opera coach, singing in My Fair Lady, and playing in a German polka band on a ship to Finland. There are stories about working as an operetta coach in Austria for many summers in which I played in a national prison; stories about unusual incidents playing the organ, such as playing at St. Stephen's Cathedral in Vienna; or playing for a wedding interrupted by a former girlfriend of the groom as well as some quite colorful stories about students I have encountered (such as the boy who wore a surprise T-shirt to his recital, or the student who received a gift, courtesy of my cat, for two years in a row). Most of them are short and will give you quite a chuckle, but one or two are poignant. This is a feel-good book, and one that might take you back to your own piano lessons.
When I was a child, all piano teachers seemed old to me. Now that I am old, the time has come to tell my stories about my professional adventures from all over the world. These stories tell about my journey from the cornfields of Mississippi to the opera houses of Germany, where I worked in theaters as a ballet accompanist and opera coach, singing in My Fair Lady, and playing in a German polka band on a ship to Finland. There are stories about working as an operetta coach in Austria for many summers in which I played in a national prison; stories about unusual incidents playing the organ, such as playing at St. Stephen's Cathedral in Vienna; or playing for a wedding interrupted by a former girlfriend of the groom as well as some quite colorful stories about students I have encountered (such as the boy who wore a surprise T-shirt to his recital, or the student who received a gift, courtesy of my cat, for two years in a row). Most of them are short and will give you quite a chuckle, but one or two are poignant. This is a feel-good book, and one that might take you back to your own piano lessons.