Students were in for a musical treat on the night of Nov. 1. 

WQRI hosted Savage Pianos, a dueling piano entertainment group, in the GHH Atrium for a dueling piano event. Dueling Pianos is a type of entertainment where two performers on grand pianos face each other, while singing, providing humor and relying on participation from the audience. Steve Savage, owner of Savage Pianos, and Nate Hopkins were the performers for the night.

Before the event began, students grabbed food from the sliders bar and made their way to the tightly packed tables. Blank papers for song requests were left on each table so students could pick a song they wanted Savage Pianos to play.

Songs could be dedicated to individuals and several happened that night. Not only was there a shout-out to one couple celebrating their 14-month anniversary, but the crowd went nuts when a Michael Bublé song was requested for Carol Sacchetti, WQRI advisor, assistant dean of students and director of student programs, leadership and orientation.

Throughout the performance, many students swayed along to the songs’ beats, but several individuals stood and started swing dancing off to the side of the event. Savage and Hopkins kept their audience engaged not only with humor, but they also got everyone to clap and sing along to the songs. At one point in the night, there was a sing off battle between the two sides of the room which tested who could sing “Sweet Caroline” louder.

The music covered classic rock, jazz, country, Latin and pop. When asked about the event, freshmen Nathan Watlington, Danielle Reynolds and Katie Kavounas described it as “dazzling.” 

One of the hits of the performance was during “Careless Whisper,” when Hopkins played the saxophone and walked around the crowd, interacting with the audience. He disappeared behind the black curtain WQRI set up and within 30 seconds, Hopkins appeared on the first level of GHH continuing his solo. The audience’s eyes followed him as he walked along the railing, playing and making his way down the stairs to the Atrium. 

Performing hits such as “Born to Run,” “Benny and the Jets” and Disney Medleys, the duo wrapped up the night with Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody,” where the pianists said they wanted to hear everyone singing.