Inspiration can come from many places, and for two local musicians, that inspiration was found in song.

The WSU music department will provide free music concerts to students today in Bryan Hall Theatre. Sky Sengnaryvong will perform three piano pieces from 3:10 – 4 p.m. Joseph Brooks will follow, playing the clarinet from 4:10 – 5 p.m.

Sandra Albers, performing arts facilities coordinator, said she has been managing the performance space for music students at WSU since 1996. Performances by students are curriculum-based; playing a concert is part of the upperclassmen and grad student’s steps toward graduation.

Albers said she also coordinates performances for faculty and any creative professionals that would benefit students by performing at WSU. The reason they host so many concerts so often and at no charge is to benefit the students.

“I always think it’s a great opportunity to listen to live music,” Albers said.

Sengnaryvong, a fifth year student and flautist studying music education at WSU, said she has been playing the flute for 13 years. She was inspired to start playing in middle school. Being an avid video-gamer pulled her into music, she said.

“I’m very into video games, and in one of the video games I played, the main character played an instrument that was similar to the flute,” Sengnaryvong said.

She added that she always wanted to teach high school, and teaching music seemed like a great option.

“Music really changed me as a person,” Sengnaryvong said. “I hope to introduce students to what music can offer.”

Joseph Brooks, professor of clarinet and saxophone at Central Washington University, said the concert is a group experience between the musician and the audience.

“We do a lot of our playing alone practicing. With the opportunity to do it in front of a live audience there’s a certain electricity that flows back and forth, everyone participates,” Brooks said.

He will perform three different pieces, including an original classical composition titled Syllogism/Evolution of a Virtuoso.

“It’s sharing my life with music with other people, especially the other students there,” Brooks said.

The piece is a duet between a clarinet and a narrator, telling the story of a novice, sloppy clarinet player and his journey to becoming a virtuoso. He started as a saxophone player before transitioning to the clarinet.

“Of course I wanted to play jazz, because that’s what you do on a saxophone,” Brooks said.

He started studying classical music because there is certain finesse, tone, and technique in classical music that one just can’t learn by playing only jazz. He said it’s important to keep the two styles separated. If he was playing classical music and someone said they bet he’s a good jazz musician, that would not be a compliment.

“If you’re blowing jazz and someone comes up to you and says, ‘Gee I bet you’re a good classical player,’ that would not be a compliment either,” Brooks said.

Sengnaryvong and Brooks are both involved in music outside of their studies. Sengnaryvong has been a member of the WSU Marching Band the last four years, and a drum major for three of them. She is also a second flute in the Washington Idaho Symphony. Meanwhile Brooks plays in a jazz set.

“I flip the coin over and play jazz quite a bit,” Brooks said.

Both Sengnaryvong and Brooks will be playing tonight, in Bryan Hall Theater from 3:10 to 5 p.m.