Three years ago, Charles Levier decided to learn to play the piano. Fast forward to today, and he is now a dedicated piano performance student at Kent State, training to live off of music for the rest of his life.

Originally from Sacramento, CA, the 20-year-old student pictures his whole life in the context of music. It’s the driving force that gets him out of bed every morning and occupies his mind until he goes to sleep.

Having been a musician his whole life, Levier says he played drums for 11 years in church.

“And then I graduated high school, and I didn’t really know what I wanted to do,” he says. “I didn’t think drums were something that I wanted to do as a career. So, I started learning the piano.”

While attending community college for a year, Levier weighed his options. Musicians in his area mostly all went to the same school, Sacramento State University – he wanted to stand out.

When his professor recommended he apply to Kent State’s music school, he learned as much as he could in a year.

While working as a DJ at a skating rink, Levier set a strict schedule for himself during this time. As soon as he woke up, he practiced. He then worked from 6 p.m. to midnight, went back home, and practiced some more until he fell asleep.

When he woke up, he did the same thing over again.

When asked how he kept going, Levier says, “I kind of just did it every day, eight hours. No excuses, no exceptions. I guess the love for music, that had to be it. I’ve always been in love with music, but I didn’t really know how to express that, and the piano is by far the best way.”

When he got accepted to Kent State’s music school, he made the leap and moved across the country.

Levier hopes to someday teach, compose, open a piano bar or do anything else related to music as a career. What he learns now is preparing him for the future he wants.

“We essentially are being trained up for when we are done with our degree,” Levier said. “We have the ability to go out and interpret music the way that it should be interpreted and bring our own personality and love to the music in a way that is stylistically and musically correct.”

Now spending his time learning every facet of piano performance, Levier has developed a specific process when tasked with new music.

“I really enjoy learning everything I can about the piece,” he said. “Why was it written? Who was it written by? What year? What was written around that time? What influenced the composer?”

“ … Listening to different interpretations by different musicians who have recorded it, all of that stuff is very interesting to me,” Levier said.

His schedule is similar to how it was before music school, spending every spare minute he has practicing.

“My roommates barely see me because I wake up before they do, and I go to sleep after they do,” he says.

Along with his studies, Levier composes his own music once in a while. But, he knows he has his whole life to do it, and says he wants to be in the best musical shape possible when he does so.

In addition to music, Levier dreams of his future in his personal life.

“10 years down the line when I’m married and have children, that’s maybe one thing that’s going to make me smile until I get there,” he said. “The fact that, number one, I get to share this gift with my children, and number two, I can teach them how to be a hard worker and persevere even when it looks like it’s not going to be fruitful at all.”

As he works hard in school, Levier says he reminds himself that he was told to come to KSU and pursue his dreams, so that is what he will do, no matter how hard it gets.

Inspired by artists like Vladimir Horowitz, who he says is someone all pianists look up to, he hopes to become the same someday.

“At the end of the day, I came here for one thing and one thing only: to play to my heart’s content,” he said. “So that is what I’ll be doing for the next two years.”