Piano knows no bounds for Snoqualmie teacher
July 19, 2009
By Laura Geggel
By Laura Geggel
If a song is a gift you give away, then Snoqualmie piano teacher Bob Pajer has played enough gifts to fill all of Snoqualmie Valley.
“What I tell my students is, this is to give away,” Pajer said as he sat in front of the August Forester piano in his living room.
Valley residents may recognize him as the piano player at the TPC Snoqualmie Ridge Golf Club, the Salish Lodge & Spa or even from Boeing plane releases, but Pajer has played all over the country, including in the Washington Symphony Orchestra in Washington, D.C., the Emory Symphony Orchestra in Atlanta and the Sammamish Symphony Orchestra.
Pajer’s musical journey began at age 5, when his pianist father sat him down on the bench for lessons. Pajer used to watch his father dress up in a tuxedo and play at upscale Brooklyn establishments, such as the Waldorf Astoria restaurant.
“I said, ‘Boy, I’m going to do that,’” Pajer remembered.
He did, although he took a circuitous route to reaching his piano teaching business at his home on Snoqualmie Ridge. At first, Pajer concentrated on piano with a musical fervor. At age 10, he auditioned for and played at the Mannes College and found himself practicing seven hours per day. By the time he reached 16, Pajer was teaching students and playing professionally, with a little help snagging jobs from his father.
When he reached age 18 in 1953, he auditioned for a part in a 20-piece jazz band and began playing with U.S. Air Force members stationed in Alaska.
“That was my introduction to jazz and I thoroughly enjoyed it,” said Pajer, who had before only played classical. “The main difference is that you’re improvising. It’s a big part of my work now.”
He stayed in the band for four years, living in the wilds of Alaska. School took him to the East Coast again, this time to Rutgers University in New Jersey. There, he studied psychology, married and had three children.
And through all of that, “I never stopped playing the piano,” Pajer said.
His work with the government and as a consultant took him across the world. He worked for the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration in Washington, D.C. and the Center for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta. It was there that he met his wife, Andrea. After visiting some friends in Europe, the two made a wager: they would move if one of them could find a job over there.
They both won — Andrea found a job in Germany and Pajer became a consultant in Macedonia from 1996 to 1998, helping the Macedonian government rewrite their laws in a more democratic style. He visited his wife and piano in Germany once a month. The rest of the time, he played the bassoon, an instrument he picked up as a teenager.
“In 1999, I said to myself, this has gone far enough,” Pajer said. “It’s time to go back to music.”
The couple decided to seek out Seattle, where Pajer had studied for a year in 1968 as a National Institute of Public Affairs Fellow at the University of Washington. Once out west, they found their home on Snoqualmie Ridge.
“We were pioneers in 1999,” Pajer said. “This was the only house on the street.”
Families, who they sometimes invite over for a neighborhood recital, now surround the Pajers.
About 20 students take piano lessons from Pajer at a $65-per-hour rate. Pajer grades students with progress reports he e-mails to their parents. Once a month, he holds group lessons to help students gain performance experience and learn from their peers. Ever interested in teaching, Pajer is working on a paper about how to motivate students during lessons.
“He is a wonderful teacher and a lot of people don’t know this, but he had the same piano teacher as Billy Joel,” Christen Jeans said.
Her 10-year-old son Hayden is playing music from the National Music Certification Program, a program used worldwide.
Pajer maintains his own certification through the Music Teachers National Association. In 2005, he played a recital at Sherman Clay Pianos in Bellevue with a program including Chopin, Schubert, Bach and Shostakovich. His next recital is scheduled for spring 2010.
For now, Pajer concentrates on his students both here and abroad. The Pajers hosted Hui Lee, a South Korean student from Gangjin, during the Sister Cities exchange. Gangjin’s major Ju Hong Hwang recently hosted them in South Korea and Pajer played for them on the trip.
“Everything you do, you will be enriched by music,” Pajer said.
Reach reporter Laura Geggel at 392-6434 .221 or lgeggel@snovalleystar.com. To comment on this story, visit www.snovalleystar.com.
If a song is a gift you give away, then Snoqualmie piano teacher Bob Pajer has played enough gifts to fill all of Snoqualmie Valley.
“What I tell my students is, this is to give away,” Pajer said as he sat in front of the August Forester piano in his living room.
Valley residents may recognize him as the piano player at the TPC Snoqualmie Ridge Golf Club, the Salish Lodge & Spa or even from Boeing plane releases, but Pajer has played all over the country, including in the Washington Symphony Orchestra in Washington, D.C., the Emory Symphony Orchestra in Atlanta and the Sammamish Symphony Orchestra.
Pajer’s musical journey began at age 5, when his pianist father sat him down on the bench for lessons. Pajer used to watch his father dress up in a tuxedo and play at upscale Brooklyn establishments, such as the Waldorf Astoria restaurant.
Snoqualmie pianist Bob Pajer started playing piano at age 5 and now teaches at his home on Snoqualmie Ridge.
“I said, ‘Boy, I’m going to do that,’” Pajer remembered.
He did, although he took a circuitous route to reaching his piano teaching business at his home on Snoqualmie Ridge. At first, Pajer concentrated on piano with a musical fervor. At age 10, he auditioned for and played at the Mannes College and found himself practicing seven hours per day. By the time he reached 16, Pajer was teaching students and playing professionally, with a little help snagging jobs from his father.
When he reached age 18 in 1953, he auditioned for a part in a 20-piece jazz band and began playing with U.S. Air Force members stationed in Alaska.
“That was my introduction to jazz and I thoroughly enjoyed it,” said Pajer, who had before only played classical. “The main difference is that you’re improvising. It’s a big part of my work now.”
He stayed in the band for four years, living in the wilds of Alaska. School took him to the East Coast again, this time to Rutgers University in New Jersey. There, he studied psychology, married and had three children.
And through all of that, “I never stopped playing the piano,” Pajer said.
His work with the government and as a consultant took him across the world. He worked for the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration in Washington, D.C. and the Center for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta. It was there that he met his wife, Andrea. After visiting some friends in Europe, the two made a wager: they would move if one of them could find a job over there.
They both won — Andrea found a job in Germany and Pajer became a consultant in Macedonia from 1996 to 1998, helping the Macedonian government rewrite their laws in a more democratic style. He visited his wife and piano in Germany once a month. The rest of the time, he played the bassoon, an instrument he picked up as a teenager.
“In 1999, I said to myself, this has gone far enough,” Pajer said. “It’s time to go back to music.”
The couple decided to seek out Seattle, where Pajer had studied for a year in 1968 as a National Institute of Public Affairs Fellow at the University of Washington. Once out west, they found their home on Snoqualmie Ridge.
“We were pioneers in 1999,” Pajer said. “This was the only house on the street.”
Families, who they sometimes invite over for a neighborhood recital, now surround the Pajers.
About 20 students take piano lessons from Pajer at a $65-per-hour rate. Pajer grades students with progress reports he e-mails to their parents. Once a month, he holds group lessons to help students gain performance experience and learn from their peers. Ever interested in teaching, Pajer is working on a paper about how to motivate students during lessons.
“He is a wonderful teacher and a lot of people don’t know this, but he had the same piano teacher as Billy Joel,” Christen Jeans said.
Her 10-year-old son Hayden is playing music from the National Music Certification Program, a program used worldwide.
Pajer maintains his own certification through the Music Teachers National Association. In 2005, he played a recital at Sherman Clay Pianos in Bellevue with a program including Chopin, Schubert, Bach and Shostakovich. His next recital is scheduled for spring 2010.
For now, Pajer concentrates on his students both here and abroad. The Pajers hosted Hui Lee, a South Korean student from Gangjin, during the Sister Cities exchange. Gangjin’s major Ju Hong Hwang recently hosted them in South Korea and Pajer played for them on the trip.
“Everything you do, you will be enriched by music,” Pajer said.
Reach reporter Laura Geggel at 392-6434 .221 or lgeggel@snovalleystar.com.
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