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07-16-09
Naples, Fl
First White
House Pianist Recounts Time with Truman
George Manos Recounts His Time with President
Truman and Musical Career
As one of
the few people still living who enjoyed
day-to-day contact with President Harry S.
Truman during his executive term, Maestro George
Manos recounts becoming the personal White House
Pianist to President Truman and his life in
music in The President’s Pianist, My Term with
Truman and My Life in Music
The President’s
Pianist follows George Manos’ dynamic life and
career in music from his childhood as a musical
prodigy in piano, being a distinguished graduate
from the Peabody Musical Conservatory and The
Juilliard School, a classical pianist, symphony
conductor, composer, and teacher. After
enlisting and becoming part of the U.S. Marine
Band, Manos served as President Harry S.
Truman's personal pianist for four years. He was
the only solo pianist ever retained by a
president to play for him regularly. During his
time with President Truman, they formed a fond
friendship that stemmed from a shared love of
music.
“Sometimes when
I’d play, with the piano pushed right up next to
the president’s open office door, I’d see him
look up from his desk as if he were wondering
what I was playing. Other times he’d walk out
and ask me, then chat about the composer and the
piece a bit, and return to his desk. He was
always direct and to the point, and never wasted
time. He couldn’t afford to, in his position.
But he’d grown up that way as a hard-working
farmer. At other times he’d come out and sit
beside me on the piano bench and watch what I
was doing. Often one of Chopin’s mazurkas or
minuets would trigger his interest.”
Manos has
performed at famed classical music venues such
as the Bethlehem Bach Festival and the
Tanglewood Music Festival. Manos also founded
and conducted the Killarney Bach Festival in
Ireland. He served as Music Director at the
National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. and
Conductor of The National Gallery Symphony
Orchestra.
Manos performed
with many of the leading musicians of the 20th
century, including the renowned composers and
conductors Leonard Bernstein, Aaron Copland,
Leopold Stokowski, and Igor Stravinksy and
acclaimed singers such as Todd Duncan, Elena
Nikolaidi, and Katharine Hansel. He’s played for
some of the century's top political leaders
including President Truman, his family, and
inner circle, Eleanor Roosevelt, Princess
Elizabeth, Prince Charles, Princess Diana of
England, and Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru of
India.
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