When graduate student Jonathan Roberts began learning to play the piano at age 7, he had no idea he would make a career out of it. But, as Roberts grew, so did his passion for the keys. In high school, he realized he wanted to continue to perform for the rest of his life.

“Once I got in the ninth and tenth grade, I came to find that music really was my passion,” Roberts said. “It was what I wanted to go with for college and such.”

Roberts enrolled in the University of New Hampshire, where he received a bachelor of arts degree in piano performance and a bachelor of music degree in music education. Roberts pursued his love of music even further at the Cleveland Institute of Performance, earning his masters degree in piano performance. Now Roberts is a UA graduate student finishing up his requirements for a doctor of musical arts degree.

“It’s been a really busy college experience,” Roberts said.

Music professor Demondrae Thurman first met Roberts in 2009. He said the first time he heard Roberts play the piano, he was overwhelmingly impressed with Roberts’ musicianship.

“He is a terrific musician,” Thurman said. “A lot of times, people can play the instrument very well but aren’t necessarily great musicians, and he is a perfect combination of both. I was struck by that when I heard him for the first time.”

Roberts is very interested in teaching music, in addition to performing it. He currently holds private lessons out of his home, where he accompanies many of Thurman’s students. Since they first met, Thurman has seen him grow firsthand.

“He came here as a really fantastic musician,” Thurman said. “I think the progress that he’s made has not been as much musical as it has been just managing the types of things that he’s going to have to do. Not only is he playing his own concerts at a very high level, he’s accompanying a lot of different kinds of musicians, from brass players to singers, which pose different challenges.”

Roberts also teaches, in addition to everything else going on in his life.

“He’s essentially living the life of a professor, but he’s still a student,” Thurman said.

Roberts said his goal after graduating is to go out and perform as much as possible with his wife, Amanda, who is also currently pursuing her doctor of musical arts degree at The University of Alabama.

The two met while getting their masters in 2006 and were married in 2009. In 2009, they also officially declared themselves The Stardust Duo, and they perform together often. They released their first CD, “The Stardust Duo: Debussy, Poulenc, and Franck Sonatas for Violin and Piano,” in 2009.

Both are set to graduate soon. Visit their website, www.thestardustduo.com, for a complete biography, recordings and booking information.