Taylor Maggiore

I play piano, but really the piano plays me. We communicate better than I do with most people, and that's saying a lot. I'm Italian. We're born yelling and talking with our hands. But I guess I do talk with my hands. I can communicate through music better than I can through Twitter, and that's saying a lot. I'm a 19-year-old girl born and raised in this college town my peers call 'leaving home' when really mine is closer to my dorm than my dining hall is.

Piano has allowed me to travel the world, which is the biggest goal I have for my future. It's taken me to Italy to perform and learn from the world's most renowned professors and students. Piano took me to a nearly abandoned village in Tuscany, stranded for hours in a hail storm in July. Music has taught me that with dedication and hard work, I can reach my dreams. I have the deepest appreciation for composers; recreating their vision is hard enough, but putting that passion onto paper in the rawest form is mind-boggling. Piano has been my outlet and my passion since I accidentally taught myself how to play when I was five. Had I not discovered what I believe to be my one true talent, I would not be the person I am today.