Broad Ripple Magnet High School (BRMHS) hosted Zach Lapidus, a nationally acclaimed pianist and finalist of the American Pianist Association Jazz Fellowship Contest, Monday through Wednesday (Jan. 26 - 28). This jazz fellow mastermind spent time interacting with Ripple Rockets of all grade levels and rehearsing with the jazz band, which culminated in a concert on Wednesday, January 28th, 2015, where he put the Gene Poston Auditorium in an uproar of commending applause.

The Oregon native and IU graduate returned to his second home from his busy life in the Big Apple to teach students what jazz is and how to improvise. He tapped into memories of performing at the Jazz Kitchen and noted how Indy's food is "more inexpensive than New York's."

Lapidus discovered his ear for instrumental jazz music at age eight where he learned to improvise and flow with the moment from early jazz ancestors like Miles Davis and BB King. He granted the knowledge that blues is the founder of musical language and swing conceived the beloved jazz.

He began his euphonic journey at IU's music school where he was further inspired and attained his devotion for working hard. While attending the university, he encountered musicians more talented and with innate abilities, but made it his mission that no one would work as hard as he would.

"It doesn't matter where you start, distance is measured in how hard you work."

He signifies the power of hard work, and this guy knows a thing or two about working hard.

After acquiring the necessities gained from college and second-hand knowledge from a close friend and saxist, Frank Glover, Lapidus spread his wings and migrated north to New York where he explored more challenging music. There he takes on music as a full time job and teaches piano at Bloomingdale School of Music.

"I love music about 70% of the time," he said.

Lapidus has exercised it enough that he accepts the good and bad that comes with his demanding career. Not to mention he lives in New York where you can grow accustomed to pretty much anything in a city where NCIS is filmed.

At the concert Wednesday evening, Lapidus and Bryan Thompson, BRMHS senior and aspiring saxist, killed the show in their jazz selection "Killer Joe." "Killer Joe" was composed of bass, sax, and piano and the crowd sat mesmerized as Lapidus's fingers ornated the piano keys. His foot moved just as harmoniously with the tempo, as Bryan fed off the energy and turned it into his own. The crowd soaked up the energy like a sponge.

The concert concluded in a piano ad-lib solo by none other than the guest of honor, and the audience's sponge released its energy via thunderous hand claps.

His advice for aspiring musicians: "Tap into the feeling of the moment when you're performing and improvise. Put your mind into a blank space, and listen to near ideas."

And it is OK to get nervous, Zach Lapidus still does. In fact, "small amount of nerves makes everything better."