The Piano in the UW-Milwaukee Union: The Glue of Friendship

Students taking the shortcut from the Union Art Gallery to the UW Credit Union, or taking a study break next to the Alumni Fireside Lounge, will often be greeted by the sounds of a piano. Chances are, the man behind the music is Teddy Breihan. In his fourth year at UWM, Breihan spends most of his time outside the classroom on the bench of the Baldwin piano.

Although Breihan appreciated more people passing by the piano when it was on the ground level, he’s comfortable behind the keys anywhere. He can be seen playing on and off in the backing band for several artists, including local genre-crosser Klassik.

“Most of the friends I’ve made here have been because of the piano,” said Breihan. “Either other people who play it, are interested in it, or people who hear me playing a song they know. If it turns out we have a similar taste in music, that’s a strong glue for a friendship.”

Originally purchased by the Peck School of the Arts, the piano has been a staple for students to play on in the Union for just over 15 years. The piano was moved from its home behind the stairs on the street level of the Union before the start of the last fall semester, to just outside of the Ballroom on the campus level. The move was made because of student complaints about noise.

“We tried it in a few different spots around the ground level,” said John Kosmalski, operations coordinator for the Union. “We’ve gotten the least amount of complaints since it’s up there now.”

Breihan has been a life-long resident of the east side of Milwaukee. Graduating from Riverside High School in 2011, he initially began studying at UWM in the music department. Reading sheet music never came naturally to him and almost took the feeling out of playing for him. Breihan switched majors to Anthropology and will be studying in Japan during his final year of undergrad starting in August.

Breihan took a few elective anthropology classes along with his load of music courses and thought that those were much more interesting. His interest waned in the music classes, just as he did when his grandmother was giving him lessons after his parents were excited over his natural music ability.

“I think people should teach it to each other in more of a hands-on way,” said Breihan about learning music. “People will take what they remember from it, leave out what they don’t. It becomes its own organism after a while.”

Breihan, who still isn’t convinced he’s going down the right path for a career, doesn’t seem to be worried. Just as in his love for music, he’s not concerned by technicalities along the way. Life is like the melody of a well-arranged piece of music.

“Having a catchy or fun melody really makes a song,” said Breihan. “You’re not going to come away from a song remembering a chord progression or a rhythm, you remember a melody.”