The lunchtime crowd at Alabama Power’s Birmingham headquarters got a bonus treat Tuesday: some Chopin with their chicken, a little Liszt for lunch.

That’s because Kevin Grigsby, Birmingham Division market specialist, brought his musical talents to the new space in the atrium created by the removal of the escalators.

Grigsby played several classical pieces on the piano, which was brought in for the occasion, in front of dozens of rapt employees and visitors.

Kevin Grigsby performs in the Alabama Power atrium from Alabama NewsCenter on Vimeo.

The mini-concert served as preparation for his big showcase at the Cliburn International Amateur Piano Competition in Fort Worth, Texas, on June 19-25.

“Part of the reason I did it was to make myself nervous,” he said. “So when Stephanie (Smith) came to me with the opportunity, I jumped on it.”

“After remodeling the area, I thought, we’ve got a perfect location now, what better way to christen it?” said Smith, Corporate Operations manager, who organized the performance. “It was really marvelous.”

Kevin Grigsby played piano in the Alabama Power atrium in Birmingham. (Michael Tomberlin/Alabama NewsCenter)

Grigsby opened with Mozart’s Sonata in F Major First Movement, which he called “a basic running play.” At the competition, it will be followed by the more arcane and complicated Fugue by Samuel Barber, which he termed his “flea-flicker play.”

Tuesday, he graced the audience with works by Prokofiev and Rachmaninoff in addition to those by Liszt, Chopin and Mozart. The notes boomed and echoed throughout the sun-filled atrium and balconies.

“It was fantastic,” said Hal Wadsworth, Birmingham Division Commercial and Industrial Marketing manager. “Kevin is an excellent talent. He’s played at some of our get-togethers for our team. He demonstrates the same work ethic serving our customers as he does playing the piano.”

“I thought it was a great way to inaugurate the new open space,” said Jim Prestwood, manager of general services. “I hope we can do things like this more often.”

That may be the only downside: increased demand. The precedent has been set. Will employees be content to eat their lunches in silence again?

Grigsby seems game for an encore.

“There are always things you wish you could play a little better,” he said. “But it was really encouraging, overwhelmingly positive.”

On June 19, Grigsby will participate in the Cliburn competition alongside the world’s best classically trained amateur solo pianists. You can catch his performance starting at 4 p.m., live-streamed through www.cliburn.org.