World-renowned 'shy guy'
Michael Allen Harrison spends a day with the OCHS music department
Michael Allen Harrison tickles the ivories at Oregon City High School last week, as he demonstrates a specific technique for the Wind Ensemble class.
ellen spitaleri / oregon city news
He’s played for President Clinton, Vice President Al Gore and the Dalai Lama, but last week Michael Allen Harrison played the piano and shared his story with students in Bill Bartman’s band classes at Oregon City High School.
He’s an internationally renowned concert pianist, composer, arranger and record producer, but first and foremost Harrison considers himself a teacher.
“It’s what I do – I’ve always felt compelled to pass on my knowledge,” he added.
Harrison is probably too modest to call himself a philanthropist, and yet he freely gives of his time in guest artist gigs at local schools and stages numerous benefit concerts throughout the year, including one at OCHS on Dec. 13, that is the band’s biggest fundraiser.
“I believe in music education as part of a complete education for kids – it is part of my purpose in life,” he said.
Studies have shown the benefits that come from music education, including that students test better in other academic areas, and yet some school have lost music programs and society in general has been slow to take action to restore them or keep them intact, he said.
“I’m an action guy – I want to do my part. It is really important to me to invest my time into what I believe in,” Harrison said.
High school memories
Harrison has performed on world stages as an adult, but it was a different story when he was at Parkrose High School, where he described himself as “a shy guy.”
His parents started him playing piano when he was 6, and by the time he was in school, his talent was “recognized and encouraged,” he said.
“Music came easy for me, but I didn’t have an uncontrollable passion,” Harrison added.
But that began to change, when his best buddy dragged him into a choir class at Parkrose and told the teacher, Mrs. Finley, that Harrison should be playing and singing in her class.
“She made me do so many things I was uncomfortable with; she said ‘You will be trying out for the musical.’ She was a huge influence,” he noted, adding that when he was a senior he actually taught the sophomore choir class.
Inspiration
“He gives a new perspective – he says you can achieve anything you set your mind to,” said Spencer Ramey, a junior in the wind ensemble class.
Amy Hinkle, a sophomore in the same class, said Harrison inspired her to “keep going on with music. When you see him and how he’s grown, you think, ‘I could be great someday.’”
“A person like him, with so much experience, can teach us a lot,” added Jon Abbott, a drummer and member of the honors wind ensemble, the jazz band and the marching band.
“Having an artist of his stature that the kids know of” is a huge plus factor for the band program, Bartman said, adding that when Harrison talks to students “he legitimizes what they are doing.”
As a guest artist, Harrison tells students to practice and treat themselves kindly, things Bartman also shares with his students every day.
But Harrison “gives it so much more value – he makes it fresh. When they hear it from him, I can see all the lightbulbs going off.”
There are so many commitments band members need to fulfill, playing at school events, Bartman said, but Harrison gives them “a sense of how valuable [their talent] is – they see the bigger picture.”
Sheila Bragg, the president of the band boosters, said Harrison’s visit gives the students the opportunity to “see that there is talent in our own area who has gone on to be respected around the world.”
She contacted Harrison about four years ago when the marching band was tapped to play in Washington, D.C.
“I called him to ask him for [fundraising] ideas and he said, ‘Why don’t we do a concert?’” she said, adding that this December’s concert will be his fifth at OCHS.
She hopes the community will attend the event, she said, because she would like to see more people involved in education.
Bragg added, “We have a lot of retired people in Oregon City and they are the ones we tap when we need money. I want them to be aware of what’s going on here. OCHS is doing some great things – we are turning out good, responsible citizens.”
Fast Facts
Michael Allen Harrison in concert in the Oregon City High School Auditorium
Sunday, Dec. 13 at 2 p.m.
Tickets are $20 in advance and $25 at the door
Call the high school at 503-785-8900 for more information.
Visit Harrison’s Web page at http://mahrecords.com/ to see his upcoming concert schedule, including his Christmas at the Old Church events, from Dec. 17 to Dec. 24, and to learn more about his Snowman Foundation, which benefits music education.