MU senior Taylor Burkhardt’s senior piano recital Friday night at Whitmore Recital Hall was a culmination of her time at MU.

The senior performed four pieces by Bach, Beethoven, Chopin and Ligeti.

Burkhardt’s unnconvential and inconsistent beginning to the instrument did not stop her from progressing with piano.

“I have studied piano since the age of seven,” Burkhardt said. “I haven’t had the most traditional musical background, and as a result I have worked extremely hard the past few years to achieve the same results that more carefully groomed young musicians achieve.”

Burkhardt’s recital opened with Toccata in E Minor, BWV 914 by Johann Sebastian Bach.

This late Baroque piece was played in each of its four parts. Opening with dramatic octave leaps in the lower register, Burkhardt’s skill and hard work was clear and her high-energy performance style not only brought something beautiful to listen to, but something wonderful to watch as well.

“I enjoy working with all the students at the MU School of Music, but week-in and week-out, for four years Taylor has been a real joy to teach,” said Peter Miyamoto, Burkhardt’s undergraduate instructor for the past three and a half years. “She’s got such a beautiful sense of how to shape a phrase, it will be interesting to watch where her talent will take her in the coming years.”

In her next piece, Sonata in D Minor, Op. 31, No. 2 “Tempest” by Ludwig van Beethoven, Burkhardt was able to transport the audience. In the three-movement piece Burkhardt brought to life a storminess, a soft melodic beauty, and a continuing stormy characteristics all in 20 minutes.

Burkhardt delighted the audience again after a short intermission with Frederic Chopin’s Ballade in A-flat Major, Op. 47.

“I find new subtleties in the music every time I practice, and better understanding the piece only makes it more beautiful to me,” Burkhardt said about the complex poetry of Chopin’s romantic piece.

Any romantic would agree, with its flowing lines and subtle energy this tragic piece is a true gem in Burkhardt’s repertoire.

For her final performance, Burkhardt skipped ahead a few decades and played Two Capriccios by the modern Hungarian composer, György Ligeti. Performed in two parts, this ever-changing piece brings the unexpected and has the audience constantly surprised.

“I love all four of the pieces on this recital — each presents a unique puzzle of problems as well as beauty, and I enjoy working that out,” Burkhardt said. “Music is my passion, something I inherently knew was to be my life’s work. I absolutely love what I do and cannot imagine doing anything else.”