Akron Life May 2022

FOREVER YOUNG

story and portraits by Alexandra Sobczak, photos provided by Jan Michael

Key Player A pianist celebrates her 90th birthday and a life filled with music.

Jan Michael was 6 when her parents rolled in a piano the day after Christmas.

“I remember the day,” says the Akron resident, who turned 90 in April. “It was what’s called an upright grand — beauti ful instrument, Knabe. And lessons started right away, next day, and never stopped.” Her parents had an inkling that Michael was brimming with musical potential, but even they couldn’t have foreseen that their daughter would end up in master classes at Tanglewood Music Center taught by world class composers and spend her entire life with her fingers tapping the keys. Her first encounter with a musical big shot was when she was 9, living in Akron. A

new piano teacher, David Kahn, moved into town from Rochester, New York. It was perfect timing, as Michael’s mother had been searching for a new teacher all summer since the family moved from Berea, away from their musical neighbor who had been teaching Michael since she was 6. Kahn was looking to open a piano studio in Akron, but when Michael’s mother called him about teaching Michael, she didn’t get the answer she was looking for. “He said, I don’t take children. I take only advanced adult students ,” Michael recalls. Still, Michael’s mother asked if he could

listen to her daughter play to get some advice on whether it was worth it to keep investing in lessons. He agreed, and when they met up, Michael sat down and played a piece. “He sat down on the bench next to me after I was done, and he said, I’ll take her ,” Michael says. That was the beginning of an invaluable mentorship. Michael remained his student until she was 18, and during that time, he taught her in a collegiate style — that meant pieces beyond lesson books had to be memorized.

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