ig life changes sometimes come right out of the blue. In the case of Bend teenager Christopher Loeffler, it was ”Rhapsody in Blue.”

In 2004, Loeffler heard a recital of the famous Gershwin piece by professional pianist Stewart Goodyear at the Cascade Festival of Music. The performance was, as the festival’s executive director, Sally Russenberger, recalled, ”phenomenal.”

That’s also how Loeffler remembers it and why he credits Goodyear for changing his life.

”Before I saw him play, I did not listen to classical music at all,” Loeffler said. ”I listened to rock music exclusively. Now I listen to classical music exclusively.”

A small life change, yes, but there’s more.

After hearing Goodyear’s performance, Loeffler decided he wanted to learn how to play the piano. The next day, he talked his mother into renting him an upright piano, and within a few weeks, Loeffler had dedicated himself to learning how to play some of the most challenging music in all of piano literature, Rachmaninoff’s Second and Third piano concertos.

Loeffler, 16, was momentarily ”bummed” when he found out from his new piano teacher, Bend’s Peter Brownlee, that the technique required to play the Rachmaninoff pieces could only be mastered after several years of instruction.

Nevertheless, Loeffler committed himself to his goal and began instruction with Brownlee in earnest. Last month, Loeffler took a big step forward when he advanced to the Oregon Music Teachers Association’s state-level piano competition. It was a remarkable feat, said Brownlee, considering Loeffler had only 15 months of piano instruction.

”It’s just unheard of,” Brownlee said.

And one more thing: Loeffler spent most of the 2003-2004 school year at home in bed, crippled with migraines. Now, they’re mostly gone, though Loeffler did not suggest music was the cure.

”I know I took up the piano, and six months later, I was going to school again – I don’t know if there’s a connection or not,” Loeffler said. ”I know that when I’m feeling horrible, I go and sit down and play the piano for an hour and when I get up, I feel better.”

”I have more energy, I’m in a better mood, it’s so wonderful.

”I mean, music is – I don’t know – it’s wonderful,” Loeffler said.

Tonight, Goodyear returns to Bend to play a piano concert at the Tower Theatre (see Page XX in today’s GO! Magazine), and Loeffler will be there to cheer on his new idol. Thanks to Cascade Festival of Music, which is presenting the concert, Loeffler will also get a chance to meet backstage with Goodyear.

When asked what he was going to say to the pianist, Loeffler replied with a typical teenagism: ”I don’t know.”

But, he added, ”I certainly am gonna tell him my story, and thank him so much for doing what he does. He’s changed my life so much.”

And if further proof of Loeffler’s admiration for Goodyear were needed, one would have to look at Loeffler’s computer. He uses an image of Goodyear as a screensaver, along with three others, those of his favorite composers. They are, in Loeffler’s order of importance, Chopin, Bach and Rachmaninoff.

Rachmaninoff

Russian pianist and composer Sergei Rachmaninoff (1873-1943) had extremely large hands, which gave him an incredible range on the keyboard. It’s one of the reasons his concertos are so difficult to perform, Brownlee said.

”The physical conformations of the hand are important in order to play repertoire that most pianists would like to play, but few will ever be able to play, because of the limitations of the hand,” he said.

But hands aren’t everything. Befitting a teacher, Brownlee preaches technique. Twenty percent talent and 80 percent technique is preferable to the opposite, he said. So Brownlee is helping Loeffler build up stamina, velocity and endurance. Brownlee said that if Loeffler ”does what I tell him,” Loeffler should be able to play the Rachmaninoff concertos in five years.

Loeffler wants to play them sooner.

”I’m determined to prove him wrong,” Loeffler said.

Also important is a student’s drive. Brownlee thinks it wonderful that Loeffler has established some high goals for himself.

”It’s a worthy goal, and here’s the big question,” Brownlee said. ”Will he hold onto that, to that vision for himself, and pursue it?”

Loeffler believes the answer is yes, and wants to major in music when he goes to college. A sophomore at Cascades Academy, Loeffler doesn’t know where he might want to enroll, but he knows he wants to make his living as a musician.

In the meantime, Loeffler will keep practicing. His parents have since replaced the upright with a 1908 8-foot Steinway grand piano that Brownlee found at an auction house in Toronto, and Loeffler spends most of his free time in front of it. At 6 feet 6 inches, he’s so tall, he has to take off his shoes when he plays, so that he can sit at the right angle on his bench and still reach the foot pedals.

In fact, Loeffler spends most of his free time practicing, which is another admirable trait, Brownlee said.

”It’s difficult being a piano student, because they lock themselves away while their comrades are playing soccer,” said Brownlee. ”They tend to, these piano kids, make more sacrifices to spend time alone to practice, so that can be difficult in and of itself.”

Loeffler doesn’t mind. He’s thinking about the piano constantly.

”I wake up, go down to the kitchen, cook eggs and look at the piano,” he said. ”I don’t want to be cooking eggs, I don’t want to be packing for school – I want to be sitting there playing the piano.”

Andrew Moore can be reached at 541-617-7820 or amoore@bendbulletin.com.