Dueling Pianos has no “treble” drawing a crowd

by Christian McCarville

A cold Nov. 8 night was heated up by the Dueling Pianos event, hosted by Student Entertainment Center (SEC). Students were invited to the Student Recreation Center (SRC) Atrium where two pianos were located.

Beginning at 8 p.m., students were able to take a seat in the SRC Atrium and listen to the pianists.

“Students could write their choice of song on a piece of paper and put it in a jar. The pianists would then perform it and put their own spin on it,” said junior health science major and SEC Live Music Chair Brittany Cook.

“My personal favorite song was Seasons of Love from Rent.  It’s such a great song to sing along to with a crowd that is at once joyous and poignant,” said Associate Dean of Campus Life Nick Barbati. Cook also agreed with this choice, stating that it was her favorite from the event as well.

The pianists performed a wide range of songs for the audience and certainly did not shy away from differing genres of music.  

“The majority of the songs were from Disney and Broadway, but there were also a few iterations of hip-hop and R&B songs,” said Cook.

This aspect of crowd participation allowed for many attendees to have a fun and engaging experience at the event.

“The inspiration of the Dueling Pianos event was to bring students together in a fun, stress-free atmosphere to listen to music and sing along with their friends,” said Barbati. “The Dueling Pianos experience is always great because the students set the playlist through their requests and get to be active participants in the show.”

Dueling Pianos was also held two years ago in the Pub. The recent renovations to the Pub posed as an obstacle for recreating the event, as there was much less space to work with.

“Finding a new space for the event was certainly a difficult part in the event planning process. We eventually settled on the SRC Atrium, which was a location we had never really utilized before. However, the atrium ended up being a great spot for students to sit and enjoy the show,” said Cook.

Free cookies and hot chocolate were also given out to all who attended ­— a fitting reward for all those who braved the cold walk to the SRC.

“It was a fun Friday night activity to help students fend off the cold weather and enjoy hot chocolate and live music,” said Barbati.

Published in the 11/13/19 edition