Since Oakland University’s School of Music, Theatre and Dance is now officially its own school under the College of Arts and Sciences, the former department has been putting together various events to unite the undergraduate students.

On Nov. 19, OU’s Music Program put on the Piano Program Concert to celebrate the holiday season with great music, including holiday favorites written for two pianos and piano duets such as Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker.

Tian Tian, assistant professor of music piano, had the original idea of creating the Piano Program Concert. She said the event was created for two distinct reasons.

“The first reason was to have the whole department work on a project together,” Tian said. “The second reason was it was a way for us to raise scholarship money to help bring more students into the program and build a stronger program in doing so.”

The faculty played during half of the Piano Program Concert including including two different arrangements of the Sleigh ride, three Waltzes from Disney Movies by Greg Anderson and Scaroumuche by Milhuad. The students followed by playing a two piano arrangement of Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker.

“We hope to have this concert as an annual event that people will come continue to come to,” Tian said.  “We would also like to run more concerts in the future in general. A lot of the audience expressed that they enjoyed the concert very much and encouraged us to run it every year. The faculty and students also loved putting the whole event together.”

The music program at OU provides students with a wide range of experiences,while allowing them to receive significant attention from the faculty. An event such as the Piano Program Concert is an example of bridging the disconnect between college students and professors.