I read with interest in the January 2005 Lincoln Log that the classes of Fall 1952 and Spring 1953 donated $4,000 toward a piano for the school.  This must have been the ebony Model L (5’ 10.5”) Steinway piano that was in the auditorium when I was at Lincoln during the years 1956 – 1959.  It was very characteristic of a Steinway piano of those times; a bell-like tone and a responsive action that led me to coin the adage: It seems to know what you are going to do before you do—in my mid-teen years I embued such instruments with a spiritual-like quality.

        I played trombone in the band at Presidio Junior High under the baton of Mr. Martin Pihl. When A. P. Giannini Junior High opened in the fall of 1954, I played “bells” in the band, kind of a glockenspiel type instrument.  The band teacher took me off of trombone because I was “too short” to reach seventh position (how often do you play b natural on the trombone anyway?) 

        When I started Lincoln in February 1956, I was glad to again be under the baton of Mr. Pihl, this time with the Lincoln orchestra.  There were two workhorse Wurlitzer console pianos in the band room, Room 177.  There were two and for a while, three pianists in the orchestra.  We had to trade off but it is too many years to recall exactly how that was done. What I did not realize until many years later was that I had become a protégé of Mr. Pihl and he gave me special “spots” the entire time that I attended Lincoln High.  He also coached me in the rudiments of popular piano techniques.  Mr. Pihl was not just a teacher, he was a mentor.  Maybe not many people knew this, but he played great piano. Since he had been born in 1904, he probably started piano lessons about 1914.  He played a great “stride” piano and imparted this style to me.  I play today in a style that goes back about 90 years. Hasn’t hurt a thing.

        My first recollection of playing the auditorium Steinway was for the Lincoln Christmas Show of 1956.  I accompanied the school chorus that sang a stylized rendition of “Jingle Bells” and also accompanied Carolyn Herman of my class who sang “Sweet Old Fashioned Girl.”  Carolyn was in period costume and the song had been made popular in that era by Teresa Brewer. Incidentally, Carolyn also has had a successful career in music.

        The large June graduating classes had their commencement exercises in the San Francisco Opera House.  The small January classes had their graduations from the Lincoln auditorium. I enjoyed playing for the small class graduations because of the magnificent Steinway.

         I recall playing for the Senior Show “Girl Crazy” by George Gershwin.  What wonderful music!  Just before the show opened during the spring term of 1958, we practiced after school and even into the evening.  Finally for the fall term of 1958, my last term at Lincoln, I was the only pianist in the orchestra.  The orchestra played annually for the Christmas Show, opening the 1958 show with a splashy number called “The Dream of Olwin.” It was composed by Charles Williams, who wrote “The Theme from The Apartment.”  The composition featured piano and I guess I was up to the job.  At the end of the number, Mr. Duling, filling in for Mr. Pihl, had me stand up and take a bow. I was greeted with quite an applause.  A career was launched at that moment. When my class graduated on January 28, 1959, Mr. Pihl chose me to be one of the graduation soloists and I played Chopin’s Military Polonaise.  This was the last time in my life that I would play the Lincoln Steinway.

        In 1991, I was asked to be the rehearsal pianist for a show to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the opening of Lincoln High School.  I accepted the offer.  When I attended rehearsal at the school, I encountered a Yamaha grand piano kept in a locked room near the auditorium.  The person who showed me this piano had been at Lincoln for many years.  I said to him:  “What happened to the Steinway that used to be in the auditorium?”  He said to me: “A student pushed it off of the stage some time ago and destroyed it.”

        I would never have dreamed that the Steinway piano which I and undoubtedly many other pianists so enjoyed would have met its end in this manner.

        Thanks to Mr. Pihl and the building of my confidence through performances at Lincoln, I have enjoyed a wonderful avocational career in music.  Like the lyrics in the song “Mr. Bojangles,” after 20 years I still grieved.  But not for a dog…but for a piano.

        After graduating from Lincoln, I majored in music (Fine Arts) at City College of San Francisco. I received an Associate of Arts Degree in Fine Arts from CCSF. I joined the Musicians Union in San Francisco on September 8, 1959. My take home for engagements jumped from $5.00 - $10.00 per engagement to $22.00 on Saturday nights! I have maintained a strong avocational career in music for 46 years, playing for hundreds of wedding receptions, house parties, dinner dances (band work as well), fashion shows and even a few memorial services. I worked as a pianist at the Nordstrom store in Corte Madera for eight years. This provided access to an affluent clientele and for a while I was playing for San Francisco and Marin socialites. All in all, it has been a very rewarding and enjoyable career. Sometimes I say to my wife: “See that beautiful home...I have played the piano there.”