Senior Snapshots: Pianist can really bop

"When you hear Kyle [Elligers, A&S '06] play, everything sounds just right. It all fits, nothing is forced, everything seems to flow very naturally, and that's the way it should sound. That's the mark of a really outstanding musician," says Sebastian Bonaiuto, director of bands at Boston College.

Elligers, the pianist for BC's elite instrumental and vocal jazz ensemble BC bOp!, was recognized for this talented playing Feb. 23 at the Lionel Hampton International Jazz Festival at the University of Idaho, which he attended with bOp! He received the prestigious Outstanding College Piano Solo award and played in a concert in which famous jazz musicians such as Hank Jones and James Moody also played. He placed second in the same competition in 2005. In addition to bOp!, Elligers lends out his piano-playing skills to other events, everything from the recent Amy Poehler cocktail hour Saturday to the annual awards banquet for the Jesuit Volunteer Corps. He began playing the piano at age 6 and started playing jazz piano once he entered high school. He played piano for his band Neoteric in high school, which he describes as a funk band, and also plays the jazz saxophone and drums.

But no matter what Elligers is playing, he expresses a deep love for music. "Every time I play, it's one of my favorite things to do. In terms of something that no matter what's going on in my life, if I'm playing, I'm having a great time, making other people happy and excited," says Elligers.

Elligers extends this same passion to other areas of his life as well. He is an active volunteer at BC, participating in Relay for Life the past four years, acting as team captain for two of those years. He was also involved with the Dance Marathon for two years.

During his junior year, Elligers studied abroad in China for one semester. "I wanted to go somewhere that I could have an opportunity to get involved, getting to know the people and the culture," says Elligers. Although he is a philosophy major, Elligers is also in the pre-med program. His experiences in China, most significantly a Chinese medicine course he took, have inspired him to think about medicine in a different way, and he plans on having a career that mixes Eastern medicine with Western medicine. He is taking the MCATs this summer and will apply to medical school after that.

"What has shaped me most [during my time at BC] is the ability to have so many opportunities," says Elligers. "To go out and learn, have fun, and to meet great people, and that's exactly what I wanted from my college experience."