Not knowing that an instrument would change his life, one student’s whole outlook on life completely shifted after he learned to play the piano.

Anton Escano, senior aspiring concert pianist, found his passion for music at just age eight, and has, since then, also determined his future career.

“My dream is to be a piano professor, helping other people discover the beauty of music and develop their passions,” Escano said. “Most piano professors these days have a performing career on the side, so they teach and perform. That would be my dream: to be a performer and also a teacher at the same time.”

Already a performer in some aspects, Escano says performing is his favorite part of music, and he frequently performs in the student recitals at Harper College.

“My favorite part is performing, definitely, and getting to share music with an audience: just conveying emotions and messages a composer writes to them,” Escano said. “For pianists, especially, it’s a very independent trial that you have to go through, so I mostly do solo performances.”

Through these individual performances, Escano has learned life skills and has found his self-motivation as well, he said.

“What music has taught me is that you need to reaffirm your motivations for everything. Those five hours [of practice] go into that moment in a performance when you’re sharing music with an audience,” Escano said. “It’s not just five hours just for five hours. [Practicing music] has really helped me to just see the motivations in everything.”

Although “most music schools don’t really look at your grades at all,” according to Escano, this self motivation he learned from music makes him also strive to excel in other classes as well.

“[At] Juilliard, they don’t even look at anything you do in high school: all they’re looking at is your audition. No test scores. Nothing. No transcripts. Just your audition,” Escano said. “But, for me, what inspires me to continue doing well in school is just the learning and just being interested in the different subjects [and] how different subjects work. So, I guess, just having an interest in how the world works and how people think is what inspires me to continue trying to do my best in school.”

Though Escano says he cannot picture his life without music, he was once ready to quit.

“When I was ten I hated piano, and I just wasn’t enjoying it. But my mom realized the value of music and how it’s just a skill — an ability that stays with you until you’re older — so she didn’t let me quit,” Escano said. “She said, ‘just give it another chance,’ and so I did. What made me want to continue it was when I started to fall in love with music and the messages and emotions it conveys to audiences.”

Even during Escano’s sophomore year, Joshua Thompson, Escano’s former Jazz Band teacher, says that Escano “at first, didn’t really love Jazz.”

“He just liked to play the piano, and [Jazz Ensemble] is really one of the main places you can play piano in our department, but [he] definitely developed a feel for it and could play and improvise to some extent,” Thompson said. “Then, I got him involved in the musicals, and he accompanied [them]. Just to be able to do what he could do was impressive. I mean, its unique for a student to be able to accompany a musical.”

The progression needed to get to the point he is at today has taken a lot of time and dedication, according to Escano, and he has seen himself progress in multiple ways.

“[I have seen] significant progress from years before in my playing: [from] the way I think about music, the way I think about phrases, and [the way] it [has] just really developed as I cultivated my learning in music throughout joining summer festivals and working with a lot of different professors,” Escano said.

The hard work Escano put in to see this progress was not forced he says, and his love for music grew naturally up to this point.

“For me, it wasn’t forced at all. It was just based on by myself. [My parents] have always really been supportive,” Escano said. “[I know they will] support me wherever I want to continue my musical journey in [a] university or college.