Memorable students

Before Churchill Cooke came to Visalia in 1989, he taught band and choir in Ruidoso, N.M., for 15 years. One of his students was outstanding: He was Neil Patrick Harris, who later starred in “Doogie Howser” and currently stars in “How I Met Your Mother” on CBS. Harris was in Cooke’s music classes from fourth through seventh grades.

The celebrity mentioned Cooke in an Entertainment Weekly article in September. Since Harris was very musical at a young age, Cooke had him teach parts in the choir when he was only in the fourth grade. Before he was a star, the boy played the xylophone, marimba, cymbals, French horn and bassoon in Cooke’s band classes. He even learned to play the oboe to fit a piece of music at Cooke’s request.

“He was my lead singer in musicals,” Cooke said. “The kid was just amazing.”

Cooke encouraged Harris’ parents to get him into theater. They enrolled him at a summer camp at New Mexico State University. From there, Harris landed a part in “Clara’s Heart” with Whoopi Goldberg. He returned to Ruidoso after the movie and helped Cooke put on another musical with the elementary students before beginning his television role as Doogie Howser, Cooke said.

As Harris became more famous, his family decided to move closer to a major airport in Albuquerque, Cooke said. The family had a garage sale before the move. Harris’ mother asked Cooke if he wanted to buy a small accordion for $20. It had belonged to Harris’ grandmother, Cooke was told.

At the time, Cooke didn’t know how to play the accordion, but he bought it anyway. Now he owns 15 accordions and leaves one at each school he teaches at so he doesn’t have to transport the heavy instrument on his bike.

“It turned me on to an instrument I’d never played before,” he said. “Neil doesn’t know how far I’ve taken the accordion thanks to his mother and grandmother.”