Columbus native and Indiana University graduate student Garrett Myers will be the soloist for Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 21. The concert with the Columbus, Indiana Philharmonic conducted by David Bowden takes place in Erne Auditorium, Saturday October 20.
People are surprised to learn the Myers didn't start with the piano until he was thirteen. "I'm not sure why we waited," he says. "But, I come from a musical family. My parents felt that music was part of an education. So, when I was thirteen my mother signed me up for piano lessons."
At first there was some resistance. "I had to practice and nobody likes to practice. But then my teacher Nancy Crump started showing me cool things by Liszt and Chopin. Everybody loves Chopin! And that really motivated me."
Myers is happy with the instrument that was chosen for him. "People in my family played wind instruments and I'm familiar with strings, but it's the colors, the timbre, the ability to sing that I really enjoy about the piano."
Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 21, especially the lyrical moments accompanies the movie Elvira Madigan. So Myers gets plenty of opportunity for the singing quality that he likes so much. The concert also features Haydn's "Surprise Symphony" and the Suite in D from Handel's "Water Music."