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Piano teacher inspires at age 90
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| Enola Trahan sits with student Sandra Grossman, 17, during a piano lesson. |
By NEESHA HOSEIN
At age 90, Enola Trahan is still a fully active piano teacher in Clear Lake, using her worldwide experience to cultivate a new method of teaching music.
Born six days before the end of World War I at Peebles Plantation House in Lydia, Louisiana, Trahan started her musical ventures as a teenager.
She first played piano at age nine with her teacher and lifelong mentor, Jennie Lapham.
“My association with Mrs. Lapham opened many doors for me,” Trahan said.
During the summers, she taught students in her home to make money to buy clothes for college, and that is how she decided teaching was to be her life’s work.
Trahan said that from a young age, she was very good with children, helping supervise birthday parties, tutoring and helping her teachers in class.
Through opportunities created from scholarship awards for foreign study and networking, Trahan traveled the world carrying along her devotion to music education.
She reached places like Lucerne Conservatory of Music in Switzerland; Helsinki, Finland; Florence, Italy, being instructed by professors from various Italian music schools; University of Hawaii at Hilo, music class; and an Opera music study tour with the Houston Grand Opera’s Ann Thompson, in Paris, Warsaw and Moscow.
Most of her traveling took place in the 1970s and 1980s, Trahan said.
“Almost every summer, I studied somewhere and would have been very happy being a professional student,” she said. “I wanted to see the world and research different methods of teaching so that I could come up with my own unique method.”
She believes “it is so important to begin teaching music to children even before they can talk” because music has been associated with enhancing the mind, especially in areas of math and science.
Trahan lived for 71 years in Port Arthur and moved to the Clear Lake area in 1992, at which time she decided to join a number of social clubs, volunteer at church and lend a hand in music education within the community, instead of being a full-time music teacher.
During this break, she also did some traveling and helped with the Bay Area Symphony, worked at opera matinees and did marionette shows for kids.
Trahan said she always stayed involved with children.
In 2002, she decided it was time to start teaching again and got right back into music lessons with local students, teaching out of her home in Clear Lake.
Her students have ranged in age from 3 to 92, class time varies from 30 minutes to an hour, appointment times vary anywhere in between 6 a.m. to 9 p.m., and classes range up to 10 students at a time, with her peak having been 50 in Port Arthur.
Trahan said mornings are mostly with adult and home-schooled students and the other youngsters come in the evening after school is out.
While in Port Arthur, she used to organize a day to bring students to an opera matinee in Houston by charter buses, taking as many students as possible.
The students got to enjoy a day at the opera along with ice skating, art, music and food, organized by Trahan, and she has tried to give students similar experiences ever since.
“I love her a lot,” said Sandra Grossman, 17-year-old music student, “She’s the sweetest person, and this has been a wonderful experience with her.”
Grossman said Trahan has been teaching her music since the fifth grade and she loves hearing stories about Trahan’s life experiences.
Trahan said she has a very unique way of starting beginners, by starting off very fast paced, different from the normal slow pace most teachers use to ease students into a lesson.
“I try to make it fun,” she said. “It has to be a positive experience, and I try to really praise them when doing something correct, and when time to correct them, I do it in a patient way to make sure they feel good about themselves.”
Trahan said she likes to include traditional and seasonal stories in her teaching, such as Christmas stories, using these themes to motivate learning.
“When I teach, I also teach the students to sing or hum along with everything they played, so they get vocal training too” she said.
Trahan said that to be successful, “you have to be very creative and flexible and try different things to find out what works best” in the teaching environment.
Many years ago, when she first started, the boys used to act macho and did not like to admit they were taking piano or music lessons, but today Trahan sees much more of a gender equality in music.
Many of her students have gone on to have successful careers in music, one student plays with Kelly Clarkson, and others went on to teach music, work with church organizations, and play for weddings, funerals, school districts, parties and for corporate events.
Trahan advises others to try to see the good in everything and everyone.
“Be positive, stay active, compassionate and try to help others feel good about themselves,” she said. “Keep studying and seeking new adventures.”
Born six days before the end of World War I at Peebles Plantation House in Lydia, Louisiana, Trahan started her musical ventures as a teenager.
She first played piano at age nine with her teacher and lifelong mentor, Jennie Lapham.
“My association with Mrs. Lapham opened many doors for me,” Trahan said.
During the summers, she taught students in her home to make money to buy clothes for college, and that is how she decided teaching was to be her life’s work.
Trahan said that from a young age, she was very good with children, helping supervise birthday parties, tutoring and helping her teachers in class.
Through opportunities created from scholarship awards for foreign study and networking, Trahan traveled the world carrying along her devotion to music education.
She reached places like Lucerne Conservatory of Music in Switzerland; Helsinki, Finland; Florence, Italy, being instructed by professors from various Italian music schools; University of Hawaii at Hilo, music class; and an Opera music study tour with the Houston Grand Opera’s Ann Thompson, in Paris, Warsaw and Moscow.
Most of her traveling took place in the 1970s and 1980s, Trahan said.
“Almost every summer, I studied somewhere and would have been very happy being a professional student,” she said. “I wanted to see the world and research different methods of teaching so that I could come up with my own unique method.”
She believes “it is so important to begin teaching music to children even before they can talk” because music has been associated with enhancing the mind, especially in areas of math and science.
Trahan lived for 71 years in Port Arthur and moved to the Clear Lake area in 1992, at which time she decided to join a number of social clubs, volunteer at church and lend a hand in music education within the community, instead of being a full-time music teacher.
During this break, she also did some traveling and helped with the Bay Area Symphony, worked at opera matinees and did marionette shows for kids.
Trahan said she always stayed involved with children.
In 2002, she decided it was time to start teaching again and got right back into music lessons with local students, teaching out of her home in Clear Lake.
Her students have ranged in age from 3 to 92, class time varies from 30 minutes to an hour, appointment times vary anywhere in between 6 a.m. to 9 p.m., and classes range up to 10 students at a time, with her peak having been 50 in Port Arthur.
Trahan said mornings are mostly with adult and home-schooled students and the other youngsters come in the evening after school is out.
While in Port Arthur, she used to organize a day to bring students to an opera matinee in Houston by charter buses, taking as many students as possible.
The students got to enjoy a day at the opera along with ice skating, art, music and food, organized by Trahan, and she has tried to give students similar experiences ever since.
“I love her a lot,” said Sandra Grossman, 17-year-old music student, “She’s the sweetest person, and this has been a wonderful experience with her.”
Grossman said Trahan has been teaching her music since the fifth grade and she loves hearing stories about Trahan’s life experiences.
Trahan said she has a very unique way of starting beginners, by starting off very fast paced, different from the normal slow pace most teachers use to ease students into a lesson.
“I try to make it fun,” she said. “It has to be a positive experience, and I try to really praise them when doing something correct, and when time to correct them, I do it in a patient way to make sure they feel good about themselves.”
Trahan said she likes to include traditional and seasonal stories in her teaching, such as Christmas stories, using these themes to motivate learning.
“When I teach, I also teach the students to sing or hum along with everything they played, so they get vocal training too” she said.
Trahan said that to be successful, “you have to be very creative and flexible and try different things to find out what works best” in the teaching environment.
Many years ago, when she first started, the boys used to act macho and did not like to admit they were taking piano or music lessons, but today Trahan sees much more of a gender equality in music.
Many of her students have gone on to have successful careers in music, one student plays with Kelly Clarkson, and others went on to teach music, work with church organizations, and play for weddings, funerals, school districts, parties and for corporate events.
Trahan advises others to try to see the good in everything and everyone.
“Be positive, stay active, compassionate and try to help others feel good about themselves,” she said. “Keep studying and seeking new adventures.”
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