By: Essence Buckman, Staff Writer
“I was actually pretty shocked [to win],” says Marcus Ellison, class of 2016. “You never know how people are going to respond to something you’ve made, so it felt pretty good to know that people really do like what I’ve written. The money is always nice, too!”
Every year, Wofford Activities Council sponsors Wofford’s Got Talent, where professors act as judges, and the audience votes for their favorite acts via cell phone.
This year’s show consisted of singing, improv, piano playing, comedy and even magic from Wofford’s very own students. Ellison ended up being the winner of this competition performing a piece on the piano.
With the suggestion of his mother, Ellison started playing piano when he was around eight years old. The first song he recalls learning is the nursery rhyme “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star.” When he first learned, he practiced piano 30 minutes every day, with one day off each week. Ellison was asked some questions about his inspiration and continuance playing piano:
Q1: Have you ever had any moments where you wanted to give up playing piano? If so, what motivated you to continue?
A1: I can honestly say I never had any moments when I wanted to quit. Playing piano for me was always my escape, I never felt like it was something annoying that I had to do. Of course there have been stretches when I haven’t played simply because life just got too busy, but I always knew that I would come back to it eventually. When you find something you truly love doing, [and] that you are good at, giving up doesn’t even cross your mind.
Q2: When did you write your first piano piece, and how many have you written since then?
A2: I didn’t write my first piece until my sophomore year in college. Since then I only have finished two pieces, but I have fragments of a bunch of different things in my head. I never write anything down, which I probably should, so it’s easy to start something and never really finish it.
Q3: Is there anyone, personal or not, that has inspired your talent?
A3: My great-grandmother is definitely the first person that comes to mind. She had very severe osteoporosis and couldn’t travel very much. So when we would call and talk to her, she would always ask me to play her something over the phone. Afterwards she would always tell me to never give up playing even when I became an adult, and so far I’ve listened to her.
“I’m not really sure [where I will take my talent after graduation],” Ellison says. “I’ve always thought about teaching piano lessons on the side or maybe playing for a church, but at the very least I will always continue to play for myself. No matter where I end up, it’s something I plan to take with me. Who knows? Maybe it’ll make me famous one day.”
Ellison performed a nameless, original song during Wofford’s Got Talent in Leonard Auditorium.
