Early Recollections of Music

In High School I was the Young Lion of the keyboard, having learned the Warsaw Concerto by Richard Addinsell, and I remember being commanded countless times to perform it by both my fellow students and faculty members during every one of the four years in that school. I think I could have played that piece with my toes, as it had become overbearingly familiar to me.
The High School music teacher was lovingly called "Wahnee"(short for her real name, which was considerably longer).
She was a rather large woman, with arms the circumference of small oak trees (she ALWAYS wore short sleeves, winter and summer), waving those arms wildly while conducting her tunes, mostly music from operettas and musicals. She played no instrument, to my knowledge; had no singing voice of discernible distinction, and actually knew very little about the more serious music. Wahnee unabashedly pursued my interests, listening as much to me as I listened to her. We both respected and loved one another, she for honestly acknowledging my attachment to music deeper than the music of her domain (I always have had the greatest regard for her honesty about herself); I for the manner in which she so enthusiastically gave of herself by way of her love for children. She was well remembered, and with great fondness, for her loving ways and genuine love for teaching.
I once suggested to Wahnee that a music club be formed after school hours, which was done. We held weekly meetings, and had quite a few members that year (I was a senior, and could therefore be involved only one year).
The crowning meeting the club held that year was a visit from Guy Fraser Harrison, whom I had invited to speak to the kids. Harrison had been the associate conductor of the Rochester Philharmonic some fifteen years before, but had come back to Rochester to give some performances, and the timing was perfect.
All in all, my earlier encounter with music during the teen years was a great source of pleasure, let alone a constant enhancer of those days of growing up.