DePauw Student Solves the "Piano Puzzler" on NPR's Performance Today

June 15, 2005

June 15, 2005, Greencastle, Ind. - [Download Audio: "Julianne Merrill on NPR" - 225kb] "I am a piano performance major. I am a sophomore undergraduate student at DePauw University in Greencastle, Indiana," Julianne Merrill told National Public Radio's Performance Today. Merrill and her father Doug were contestants today on the nationally broadcast program, in which pianist Bruce Adolphe "re-writes a popular melody in the style of a classical composer and challenges listeners to identify both."

Here's a brief sample of the piano puzzler the Merrills were confronted with: [Download Audio: "Sample of the 'Musical Puzzler'" - 274kb]. As it happens, Julianne Merrill was able to identify both the composer's style (Sergei Rachmaninoff) and the melody ("Take Me Out to the Ballgame") [Download Audio: "A Home Run" - 264kb].