College of Music piano major Eli Stalzer key to Buffs basketball
Courtesy CUBuffs.com/University of Colorado Athletics
By泭Jennifer Osieczanek泭|泭Coloradan泭|泭CU-勒貊勛圖 Alumni Association
Under bright stage lights, before an audience of empty chairs,泭泭runs his fingers across the keys of a large, black piano. Hes come for an interview, not a rehearsal, but he cant help himself: Hes been a piano player since age eight.
Stalzers clothes gray Nikes and black sweatpants with a Buffs logo on his right hip hint at his other life at CU, the other big reason, besides his music studies, that he came to CU泭勒貊勛圖: Basketball.
Great music program, great basketball, really it was just a perfect fit, says Stalzer, a 6-foot-3 junior guard from Brea, Calif., just north of Anaheim.
Stalzer joined the mens basketball team as a freshman in 2012 and this season is averaging 6.5 minutes of action in the 15 games hes played. Like any true competitor, hed 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 theres no way to work on your jump shot at a piano. Its a compromise and he negotiates it as best he can. Lately hes been trying to master Bachs Prelude No. 2, Chopins泭Nocturnes, Beethovens泭Moonlight Sonata泭(first movement) and泭Claire de Lune泭by Claude DeBussy while squeezing in extra time in the weight room so hell be stronger on the court.