“That’s a beautiful piano. Can I take look at it?”asked Bryce Dudal after he handed over the pepperoni pizza he’d been sent to deliver.
The 18-year-old pitcher just graduated from his suburban Detroit, Michigan high school, and he’d earned a baseball scholarship from his local community college. Bryce was spending his summer earning money delivering pizzas for a restaurant called Hungry Howie’s, and a recent evening’s delivery brought him to the home of Paul and Julie Varchetti.
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When Bryce spied the seldom-used piano in the family’s foyer, his fingers itched to play it. When Paul agreed to let him give it a try, he wasn’t sure what to expect.
“When he started playing, I was surprised,”Ryan, the couple’s 10-year-old son, said. “I thought he was going to break the piano at first.â€
But Bryce didn’t break it. Instead, he made the instrument absolutely sing by playing a perfect rendition of Beethoven’s “Moonlight Sonata.”
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“He was just beyond good,”Julie recalled. In fact, Bryce’s playing was so impressive it made Ryan and his friend stop playing video games to come see the performance.
When Julie got home and saw the video Ryan had taken, she was so impressed that she posted it to Facebook, where it quickly amassed thousands of views, likes, and shares. Once the clip went viral, it was just a matter of time before the story behind the pizza delivery guy who can play like a concert pianist came out.
Here’s the real kicker: Bryce is almost completely self-taught!
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When he was around 6, he started playing the family’s small keyboard. He taught himself how to play a few TV show theme songs, but when his mother bought him a few Beethoven CDs, he was hooked. He began practicing classical songs and used a few YouTube videos to perfect his style.
“It was a long process. You have to sit there and think and try to put it on the piano, piece by piece. I couldn’t read music back then,”Bryce stated. “I would sit there and listen for hours and hours and try to figure it out.â€
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Although Bryce’s parents tried to get him lessons, it took years before he found a teacher who was willing to let him “skip the basics” and start playing the complicated music he loved.
“A lot of people sit down at the piano and play something slow and beautiful,” Bryce explained. “But when I play for someone, I like to go all out.” He added that “Moonlight” has been a long-time favorite of his because it’s a “flashy, fast, amazing piece.”
As Bryce went through school, he admits that sports took a priority in his life and edged out his interest in piano. Yet now that he’s receiving so much attention from Julie’s post, his interest has been renewed!
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We hope we get to hear a lot more from this talented young artist. Isn’t it incredible where a spur-of-the-moment idea can lead you?
Watch Bryce’s impromptu piano recital and see what all the fuss is about. You won’t be disappointed… and don’t forget to share!
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