IU alumna goes from piano to microphone after wrist injury ends classical career

Elizabeth Eckert had her fingers glued to the keys of a piano from age two. On track to become a classical pianist, she was on her way to realizing her dream until her junior year of college, when the keys were ripped from beneath her hands.

Classically trained

Eckert received her first piano from her parents the year she was born. She said they couldn’t keep her hands off it.

Once old enough, Eckert said she was enrolled in the Suzuki piano program at the Suzuki Music Academy.

Under the guidance of her mother, Eckert continued her piano studies throughout her youth. She received lessons from Anna Balakerskaia, a former professor at the Moscow and Leningrad Conservatories and practiced three hours a day.

“She was a hard-core teacher,” Eckert said.

It wasn’t until she was in 8th grade that Eckert said she decided to make classical piano her life.

She continued to practice daily and once out of high school, Eckert was accepted into the Jacobs School of Music in 1999 and was on the fast track to a professional career.

Studying music at IU, Eckert said her practice time increased to six to seven hours a day.

“From the beginning of my career at IU I took it very seriously,” she said.

Eckert won the IU Concerto Competition and the ALEX award for the performing arts from the National Alliance for Excellence. The ALEX award sponsored a performance at Carnegie Hall, an opportunity she earned from all the hours of hard work.

Having already achieved a great amount, Eckert was ahead of schedule to graduate and take the stage as a professional.

But toward the end of her junior year, her life changed completely.

Silenced

Eckert continued six hours of practice every day. She said she was also giving three different concerts with three different repertoires.

“I was playing fast and big music a lot,” she said.

Because of all the playing, Eckert said she started to notice pain in her left wrist, which at first she thought was just tendonitis.

“A lot of musicians get tendinitis because of all the repetitive movements, so I wasn’t worried,” she said.

She took the summer off from playing to help her wrist, but Eckert said she began to worry when it wasn’t getting better. She finally decided to see a doctor.

After X-rays and multiple appointments, the doctor said it was more than just tendinitis.

“What was wrong with my wrist was actually from breaking it when I was little,” she said.

Eckert was told that when her bone healed, it grew too long and protruded too far into her wrist.

“Every time I was playing, I was damaging my wrist,” she said.

When weighing her options, Eckert said she was avoiding surgery at all cost. All classical musicians, she said, know wrist and hand surgery will bring an end to their career.

But doctors then told her surgery was unavoidable.

“I knew I might not be able to continue my career,” she said.

Eckert could not prolong the surgery any longer so she underwent a procedure to shorten the bone damaging her wrist.

Her wrist was fixed, but she knew she could not play at the caliber it would take to be a professional.

Road to recovery
“I didn’t know what to do with myself,” Eckert said.

After her surgery, Eckert said she became very depressed because it was a huge emotional change in her life.

Luckily, Eckert was still able to play the piano but could not retain the proficiency required to be a classical pianist.

Eckert was able to finish her degree in piano performance but said it was not without a struggle.

“I was lucky I had most of my requirements already and I had actually done more than the required performances,” she said.

Eckert decided to take jazz improv classes, but she said she still had something inside her that needed to be let out.

“I had this music in me and I needed an outlet,” she said.

To replace the classical music she once loved, Eckert started to write pop music to fill the void.

Writing more and more, Eckert said she finally found something else she loved.

A new song
After graduating in 2003, Eckert moved to Nashville, Tenn., to become a professional song writer and pursue her newfound passion.

“I knew Nashville was the place to go,” Eckert said. While teaching piano at Vanderbilt University, Eckert attended “writer’s rounds.”

The performances, she said, were an outlet for writers to perform their original music, hoping their songs would become well-known.

“My goal was for other people to want to perform my songs,” she said.

During the first four years Eckert was in Nashville, she said people told her she should consider performing her own music instead of wanting others to perform it.

Making yet another shift in her career, Eckert called on the connections she made during her time in Nashville, one of which was Nancy Peacock.

By signing with the independent label SlugFest Records Nashville in 2009 and having
Peacock as her new manager, Eckert was on her way to a new career.

Since her signing, Eckert played during the “2nd Hand Summer Tour” which brought her back to play at Bear’s Place in Bloomington.

“Playing at Bear’s Place got me back to Bloomington and reconnected me,” she said.
Eckert said the visit inspired her to write the title track of her single “Bloomington.” “It was really important for me to get back to Bloomington,” she said.

Eckert said although she used to miss playing classical music, she has taken on her newest passion with full force and hasn’t looked back.

“It took a long time and was hard for me to let go of that part of my life, but this has taught me about who I am,” she said.