FROM BACH TO BEATLES, HE’LL PLAY IT

After completing the graceful prelude of Bach’s Fifth French Suite, pianist Bryan Verhoye quickly surveyed the noontime lobby of the Imperial Bank Tower. Noting a slight increase in the lunch crowd filtering into the adjoining Piret’s restaurant, he decided to launch into a medley of Broadway show tunes in lieu of finishing the Bach suite.

Two months earlier at San Diego State University, the 25-year-old keyboard player had accurately discerned the tastes of a decidedly more critical audience when he took first prize in the university’s Joseph Fisch Piano Competition.

At this stage in his budding career, Verhoye spends most of his keyboard hours playing plush downtown lobbies and country club lounges, even though he is preparing new repertory for recitals as well as competitions in Los Angeles and Sydney, Australia.

“I feel like I’m in a middle ground,” he said. “I was allowed to be a prodigy until I was in college. Now, everyone who looks at me and sees me playing says, ‘Wow, you’re so young.’ I feel like no one will take me seriously as a performer until I’m 30 or older.”

A native San Diegan, Verhoye rejected the professional advice he received during his undergraduate years at the University of Southern California and returned here to pursue his career. “I was always being told, ‘If you don’t go to New York and knock on all the doors, meet the right people, what are your chances of having a musical career?’ But I believe I can prove that it is possible to build a career here. San Diego is not a second-class city to Los Angeles.”

He and his landscape architect wife, Amber Theilacker, live in Mission Hills. For recreation, Verhoye plays racquetball and electronic chess with his computer.

“I like to do three things at once: have the TV on, a book open and play the chess game,” he said. “My wife says I do this because I’m a Gemini and can’t decide on any single thing. Sometimes when I practice, I have the chess game on the piano. I put it on the high level so it takes three minutes to make up its mind. That way I can practice and play chess at the same time.”

Verhoye has not found it difficult to reconcile his aspirations to become a recognized classical pianist with playing background music for venues such as the Westgate Hotel’s afternoon high tea or the Fairbanks Ranch Country Club lounge. He said he enjoys skipping from Bach to the Beatles and from Scarlatti to James Taylor.

“I don’t consider these jobs demeaning,” he said. “There are always a few people who appreciate my playing, and even a few can make it worthwhile. On the other hand, I’ve turned the situation around for myself.

“I figure if I can stay tuned in to the music, put all of my effort and concentration into playing with people walking all around me, sitting right by me talking--even lunch going on in the restaurant--that can only enhance me and improve the quality of my music-making.”

Verhoye had been reading “The Inner Game of Music,” and he said the authors reinforce this approach. “The book is about removing distractions and the anxiety that inhibit potential--not worrying about specific performance goals while you are playing in front of an audience,” he said.

Although Verhoye receives numerous requests to teach piano, he has resisted the temptation to set up a private teaching studio. “I really prefer to make my living playing,” he said. “Maybe I’m still rebelling against another idea that was drummed into us at USC: ‘You better get a master’s degree, because if you get out there and you’re not Ashkenazy, you’re going to have to teach piano.’ ”

Like most successful performers, Verhoye started studying his instrument at age 5.

“Until I was 11 or 12, I was always serious about music. But then Little League and basketball came along, and I wavered.” Although he never planned to quit playing piano, it was not until the end of his high school years that he decided to pursue music as a profession.

He compared himself to a younger San Diego-area piano prodigy, Gustavo Romero. “I look at Gustavo, who at age 13 was already in New York City studying at the conservatory. At that age, I would have been unable to focus entirely on the piano--I had too many other interests.”

He noted that both of his parents are musicians by avocation, and that his mother kept him on track when his interest in the piano wavered.

Verhoye is preparing to play in the Sherman-Clay Piano Competition in Los Angeles in October and in the Sidney International Piano Competition three years hence. Should he not return from the latter with laurels, he is appropriately philosophical: “Well, I’ve always wanted to see Australia and visit the Sidney Opera House.”