Story by Taylor Inman, Contributing writer
Eric Obermeyer said he knows how to impress the ladies.
In conjunction with the Campus Activities Board, Obermeyer, senior from Jasper, Indiana, plans to test his skills in the Curris Center, playing piano for the students passing through.
“I play all the pretty stuff like ‘A River Flows in You.’ That pretty piano music is easy to play, but girls are really impressed by it.”
Grant Knox, showcasing chair for the Campus Activities Board, arranged for Obermeyer to perform songs from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 12 in the Curris Center Rocking Chair Lounge. Obermeyer will be performing prepared songs, including songs from Frank Sinatra and Michael Bublé, but will also be taking requests and free-styling on the piano.
“Hopefully we can get people to stop and listen for a second,” Knox said. “I love showcasing musicians here at Murray. As a music major, I see the same musicians every day but not too often do you see talented musicians who have no involvement with the music department.”
Obermeyer is no stranger to Murray State’s music department, and as a Music Education major with an instrumental emphasis in euphonium, he participates with both piano and baritone on campus, playing in Murray State’s jazz orchestra and wind ensemble.
Obermeyer said he has spent extensive time studying baritone, but it was jazz piano he learned by himself as a child.
“My mom would go to our piano and would play cool music; nothing like classical music, I was never interested in that,” Obermeyer said. “She would leave and keep the sheet music out, so I would sneak in there and learn to play it.”
Since his love for music seemed to start at a young age, Obermeyer said he carried that love with him up through high school and into college.
“I was one of those geeky kids in middle school that didn’t have many friends, but I definitely had music,” Obermeyer said. “Then I joined band, and it has its stereotypes, but people don’t realize you make so many friendships. And the connection you share with them through music, it’s amazing.”
For Obermeyer and Knox, it would be enough just for students to feel the music when they pass by them in the Curris Center.
“Even though this isn’t a concert setting, people will notice the music and I think it will change their day,” Knox said. “All too often, things like this can only be found in concerts and recitals that you have to go out of your way to attend. Doing this in the Curris Center during lunch hours will allow students to experience music in their own element.”
Getting students to experience something is the main goal of the Campus Activities Board, who sponsored this Valentine’s Day themed piano serenade. CAB Vice president Nathan Payne said he believes that if it’s not going to grab the attention of Murray State’s students, then it’s not worth putting on.
“A lot of companies will try to contact us with ideas for projects,” Payne said. “But if we don’t think students come out, we don’t even bother. Every single decision we make immediately comes from the students. If they don’t come out, or if they don’t tell us they liked it, then we’re likely to not do it again.”
So on the Friday before Valentine’s Day, walk a little slower when going to lunch in the Curris Center, and listen close for some Sinatra, Bublé or maybe even “A River Flows in You.”