麻豆影院

Courtesy CUBuffs.com/University of Colorado Athletics

By听Jennifer Osieczanek听|听Coloradan听|听CU-麻豆影院 Alumni Association

Under bright stage lights, before an audience of empty chairs,听听runs his fingers across the keys of a large, black piano. He鈥檚 come for an interview, not a rehearsal, but he can鈥檛 help himself: He鈥檚 been a piano player since age eight.

Stalzer鈥檚 clothes 鈥� gray Nikes and black sweatpants with a Buffs logo on his right hip 鈥� hint at his other life at CU, the other big reason, besides his music studies, that he came to CU听麻豆影院: Basketball.

鈥淕reat music program, great basketball, really it was just a perfect fit,鈥� says Stalzer, a 6-foot-3 junior guard from Brea, Calif., just north of Anaheim.

Stalzer joined the men鈥檚 basketball team as a freshman in 2012 and this season is averaging 6.5 minutes of action in the 15 games he鈥檚 played. Like any true competitor, he鈥檇 like to play more.

But his commitment to music leaves him at a disadvantage when it comes to basketball: Besides classes and homework, Stalzer rehearses piano eight to 10 hours a week, and there鈥檚 no way to work on your jump shot at a piano. It鈥檚 a compromise and he negotiates it as best he can. Lately he鈥檚 been trying to master Bach鈥檚 Prelude No. 2, Chopin鈥檚听Nocturnes, Beethoven鈥檚听Moonlight Sonata听(first movement) and听Claire de Lune听by Claude DeBussy while squeezing in extra time in the weight room so he鈥檒l be stronger on the court.