George Wright

Reflections by Malin Dollinger and Larry Kass
Excerpted from Theatre Organ, July/August 1998

"George Wright is accepting limited number of pupils. Call ..." said the ad ten years ago. So we answered the ad, hardly believing not only that it was true, but that we would meet him ourselves; that would have been enough.


Orchestral chamber,
New York Paramount Theater, 1950
Meet him we did, and he was friendly, personable, and quite willing to have us play for him. Play for him! Play for him? Does one go to Michelangelo and show him your sculpture? Or show your paintings to Rembrandt? How does one play the organ to audition for lessons from George Wright? Carefully ... very carefully. Next, we found ourselves taking lessons from him, first in a retail music store, and later at his home in the Hollywood Hills on his own Wurlitzer.

For several years, we had the blessing of his wisdom and experience, for two-hour sessions once or twice a month. Nothing could ever compare with this experience. He showed us how he did it, details of technique and mastery, secrets of registration and styling. Hours were spent trying to imitate his effortless portamento between opposite ends of the keyboard. He would say, "Just start here, with both hands, and go there, and hit every note along the way. Evenly, of course!" We kept watching in amazement.

In fact, he introduced us to one another ... another gift. Both of us are cancer specialists -- one from Los Angeles, the other from Cleveland. We often reflect on that fulfillment of the impossible dream ... to spend hours, and days, and months, and years trying to absorb everything he could show us. We wrote it all down. Now try to do it. Impossible!

At his concerts, he made stop changes between notes, so fast you could not see them. We watched this in person, still unbelieving. If a motion picture tried to capture this, likely it would be invisible, between the frames.

Above all, he was tolerant and kind to us, and did his best to be helpful, constructive, and accepting. Once in a while, we would "get it," and he was appropriately enthusiastic. We are far better for having the experience of knowing George and having him watch over us during those years. Now we often say, with friends, "This is how George taught me to do that."