Musician Doug Byerly helped pay for college by performing the music of Rodgers and Hammerstein, yet he always left room in his nightclub shows for Gilligan, the Professor and Mary Ann.
"If I'm at a club and I start playing 'Gilligan's Island,' invariably it's like karaoke," said Anne Arundel Community College's music director and performing arts chair.
In 10 years, Byerly has launched the school's opera and jazz programs, student ensembles and a gospel choir, but he also conveys his passion for the art by blending traditional songs with classic TV show themes.
On Thursday, the pianist will pay tribute to theme songs from the 1960s and 1970s as part of a concert at the college's Humanities Theatre. Byerly will join other AACC musicians, including the faculty quintet, in performing original works interspersed with popular tunes.
His original works include "Improvisation," music based on TV melodies he remembers from growing up in the Midwest.
"There is something very universal about those [theme show] melodies, whether it's 'Gilligan's Island' or 'The Flintstones' or ' The Brady Bunch' or 'Johnny Quest.' Those themes stick with us," said Byerly, 48, who lives in Towson. "I pay tribute to those themes and put a twist on them as well. That [music] is part of the fabric of my youth and my education in jazz as well."
Byerly has been involved in more than 100 productions throughout the Mid-Atlantic and the Midwest as director, producer and performer. He exposes students at AACC to all types of music and his work in the community has earned the school two private foundation grants to bring opera to Anne Arundel public schools in January.
"He brings a lot of energy and creativity and vision," said Ian Wardenski, professor of music, who said that AACC students warm up to his playing of TV show themes that were popular before many of them were born.
"While he's playing, in his improvisation, he'll quote these little tunes, like 'The Flintstones' and 'Woody Woodpecker.' It's something students can relate to instantly, and maybe they'll get a laugh out of it," said Wardenski. "A lot of things we're doing in the music department [are] exposing our students to more of it."
Some teachers in the department follow his lead.
"One thing we all do here is we make music fun," said Marty Knepp, co-director of the AACC jazz ensemble, who embraces the themes from "The Flintstones" and " Spider-Man." "When you do that and share your personal experiences, because we all play, they get a kick out of it."
In infusing TV theme music into jazz and Broadway tunes, Byerly says his approach is not unlike what some popular jazz artists used to do with music from Andrew Lloyd Webber and Rodgers and Hammerstein.
Byerly took up such music while growing up in Kalamazoo, Mich. He began playing piano at 4 and after being immersed in classical music for more than seven years, he pleaded with his parents to be trained on other types of music.
He ultimately received tutelage from musician and educator Al Balkin, who wrote for "Captain Kangaroo" and penned the song "Learn to Read," which became the Reading is Fundamental tune. He then developed a penchant for music that helped shape his childhood. Ultimately, he blended snippets of TV show themes during piano performances at nightclubs that helped to pay his way through Western Michigan University.
After moving to Baltimore in 1985 to teach in Baltimore County public schools, Byerly supplemented his income by playing at restaurants in the Inner Harbor, drawing audiences who didn't tire of hearing TV themes from their youths. Sometimes he will even blend in nursery rhyme tunes like "Peter Peter Pumpkin Eater."
In exposing AACC students to traditional music with theme show elements, Byerly aims to ensure that they learn to explore their own sense of creativity in all types of music rather than be confined to a particular genre.
"My philosophy for growth [at AACC] is to share my passion for this art," said Byerly. "I have a passion for all music: reggae, opera, blues, jazz, country, rap. I'll listen to anything and find the value in that from a teachable standpoint. It's important to teach students that our most important tool is our ears."
The concert will be held at 8 p.m. Thursday in the Humanities Theatre at Anne Arundel Community College, 101 College Parkway, Arnold. Information: 410-777-2457.