Brady Geary said, “I would rather give my cat a bath than prepare for this recital again,” when asked about his upcoming senior recital via email. While the response may sound cynical, Geary has been anything but slacking on practice time; prep for his final performance as an Augsburg student began in the fall of 2016. Geary performed his senior recital Dec. 7 in Sateren Auditorium prior to Cleo Knickerbocker who Geary calls “simply the best jazz pianist in Augsburg history.”

The recital featured a variety of different preludes composed by Bach, Chopin, Scriabin, Duke Ellington and an original by Geary himself. Geary said the biggest challenge in practice was Ellington’s piece “Prelude to a Kiss” because it was so different from anything he had previously played. Despite its difficulty, he still found it the most fun to play.

Geary will receive a Bachelors in Music at the end of this month. After graduation, he plans on taking a year off before applying to graduate school. He is hopeful for a doctorate in Music Theory. His goal is to teach university-level Music Theory. “I originally wanted to major in Music Education, but I realized that at where I want to teach, it is more important to advance in your field than learn educational theory.”

Because he started college at sixteen, he wanted to have “some actual adventures before returning to academia” and get back into regularly composing original material. One adventure has already started: Geary is currently in the process of visiting all 71 Minnesota State Parks before next Black Friday.

Geary’s musical journey and desire to play began early in his childhood, though the details are fuzzy. “I don’t personally remember [when I showed interest in music], but my mom swears that I begged to play piano when I was five. This is very likely untrue as I remember being a rather reserved child. I did start taking lessons at age six, and I have continued since.” He now plays over 16 different instruments from saxophone to accordion. His principal is piano.

Besides music, Geary also works for the Augsburg Admissions Office, offers tutoring services for music theory and music history and leads the music AugSem. “Past that,” he says, “my largest ‘claim to fame’ on campus is that everyone who works at Einstein’s knows what I will order before I order it: one large coffee and an untoasted asiago bagel with jalapeno schmear.”

This article first appeared in the Friday, December 8, 2017, Edition of The Echo.