MUMBAI: As one of the few people still living who enjoyed day-to-day contact with President Harry S. Truman during his executive term, Maestro George Manos recounts becoming the personal White House Pianist to President Truman and his life in music in "The President's Pianist: My Term with Truman and My Life in Music" (published by iUniverse).

"The President's Pianist" follows George Manos' dynamic life and career in music from his childhood as a musical prodigy in piano, being a distinguished graduate from the Peabody Musical Conservatory and The Juilliard School, a classical pianist, symphony conductor, composer and teacher. After enlisting and becoming part of the U.S. Marine Band, Manos served as President Harry S. Truman's personal pianist for four years. He was the only solo pianist ever retained by a president to play for him regularly. During his time with President Truman, they formed a fond friendship that stemmed from a shared love of music.

"Sometimes when I'd play, with the piano pushed right up next to the president's open office door, I'd see him look up from his desk as if he were wondering what I was playing. Other times he'd walk out and ask me, then chat about the composer and the piece a bit, and return to his desk. He was always direct and to the point, and never wasted time. He couldn't afford to, in his position. But he'd grown up that way as a hard-working farmer. At other times he'd come out and sit beside me on the piano bench and watch what I was doing. Often one of Chopin's mazurkas or minuets would trigger his interest."

Manos has performed at famed classical music venues such as the Bethlehem Bach Festival and the Tanglewood Music Festival. Manos also founded and conducted the Killarney Bach Festival in Ireland. He served as Music Director at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. and Conductor of The National Gallery Symphony Orchestra.

Manos performed with many of the leading musicians of the 20th century, including the renowned composers and conductors Leonard Bernstein, Aaron Copland, Leopold Stokowski and Igor Stravinksy and acclaimed singers such as Todd Duncan, Elena Nikolaidi and Katharine Hansel. He's played for some of the century's top political leaders including President Truman, his family and inner circle, Eleanor Roosevelt, Princess Elizabeth, Prince Charles, Princess Diana of England and Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru of India.