Thank you for the explanation! I had, indeed, missed something. That's what I get for not reading posts as often as I could/should.
It's interesting how intensely our music teachers often affect our lives. I can name a piano instructor, two band directors, and a choir director who helped to shape me into the person I am.
One general music teacher who taught church choir for kids (taught me how to sing alto), one piano instructor (Ms. Kotcher herself), two choir directors, and a composition teacher ... almost every day, one of them still blesses my life, for indeed, they shaped who I am. One might say that what happened as I was out here exploring music is that I found a German analog to all these, whose students STILL are saying the same thing about his impact on them, while I work to be that person for my own students as best I can. There are musicians, there are great musicians, and then there are the class of people in every field who are of the mind of "I am on a mission to bless as I have been blessed." I'm a No. 1, aiming for No. 3!