Sarah Peterson
I first saw George Trautwein directing my big sister in a Christmas concert. He was everything she had described--bold, demanding, expressive, and totally passionate about his music. Already a legend in our our little town of Goldsboro, N.C., he had a program that even the toughest male athletes in our school lined up for, even though it sometimes involved wearing kimonos and full-on stage make-up!
I knew I wanted to be part of his world--to be passionate like him--to really stretch, musically, under his direction. My sophomore year, I got that opportunity.
For two wonderful years, which turned out to be his last two years at GHS, I, along with countless others, experienced George Trautwein pounding on his piano, throwing chairs, yelling at students things like, "What's this?! Pirates' treasure?!
Sunken chest?! Sit up tall! Straighten those shoulders! Sing from your diaphragm!" and demanding better than our best from us every minute of every class. Even his car, a forest green jaguar, seemed affected by his personality. . . it was famous for "blowing up" on him, until he finally traded it in for a Riviera.
I may be the only student who ever slapped Mr. Trautwein. In a rehearsal for The Boyfriend, I was supposed to slap my male counterpart, and just couldn't strike him convincingly enough. Of course, I heard, "Jonesie, get it right! Here! I'll play the scene with you!" Well, he did--and I slapped him--HARD. You could have heard a pin drop, but he recovered himself quickly and said, "That was good! Now, do it like that every time!"
He left us at the end of my junior year in 1969, and our music department was never the same. How do you replace someone who is larger than life? And yet, as Matt Miller has already said, he has lived on in each of us. My children, and my students, too, know of this musical dynamo, through me. I was fortunate to have many excellent teachers throughout my life--in fact, I became a teacher, and tend to be a bit flamboyant myself, thanks to Mr. Trautwein. But when I am asked to speak or write about my most influential teacher, even after all these years, I still choose him. I think I will always choose him. He personified excellence, he loved us, and in his wild and wonderful way, he changed us all forever.
I first saw George Trautwein directing my big sister in a Christmas concert. He was everything she had described--bold, demanding, expressive, and totally passionate about his music. Already a legend in our our little town of Goldsboro, N.C., he had a program that even the toughest male athletes in our school lined up for, even though it sometimes involved wearing kimonos and full-on stage make-up!
I knew I wanted to be part of his world--to be passionate like him--to really stretch, musically, under his direction. My sophomore year, I got that opportunity.
For two wonderful years, which turned out to be his last two years at GHS, I, along with countless others, experienced George Trautwein pounding on his piano, throwing chairs, yelling at students things like, "What's this?! Pirates' treasure?!
Sunken chest?! Sit up tall! Straighten those shoulders! Sing from your diaphragm!" and demanding better than our best from us every minute of every class. Even his car, a forest green jaguar, seemed affected by his personality. . . it was famous for "blowing up" on him, until he finally traded it in for a Riviera.
I may be the only student who ever slapped Mr. Trautwein. In a rehearsal for The Boyfriend, I was supposed to slap my male counterpart, and just couldn't strike him convincingly enough. Of course, I heard, "Jonesie, get it right! Here! I'll play the scene with you!" Well, he did--and I slapped him--HARD. You could have heard a pin drop, but he recovered himself quickly and said, "That was good! Now, do it like that every time!"
He left us at the end of my junior year in 1969, and our music department was never the same. How do you replace someone who is larger than life? And yet, as Matt Miller has already said, he has lived on in each of us. My children, and my students, too, know of this musical dynamo, through me. I was fortunate to have many excellent teachers throughout my life--in fact, I became a teacher, and tend to be a bit flamboyant myself, thanks to Mr. Trautwein. But when I am asked to speak or write about my most influential teacher, even after all these years, I still choose him. I think I will always choose him. He personified excellence, he loved us, and in his wild and wonderful way, he changed us all forever.
