Since learning to play piano at age 6, Eldred Marshall has been hard at work on a dream. Now the San Bernardino resident and Yale graduate is poised on the brink of that dream coming true.

This summer he takes his talent on the road. Not just any road, mind you - the stretch of pavement between Milan, Italy, and the Republic of San Marino.

"I'm excited about going. This is my lifelong calling," he said. "My dad said I was preparing for this moment for 20 years. It is my life."

Marshall, the 1999 salutatorian at Eisenhower High School in Rialto, graduated from Yale University in 2003. He majored in political science, majoring in music and Spanish. While at Yale, he directed the Yale Gospel Choir for two years.

Marshall's sister, Dorothy, is the current director of the choir, he said.

"When I was with the choir, we came to Los Angeles and the Inland Empire to perform in 2003." His parents, Eldred and Deidre (the younger Eldred is the IV) are proud and very supportive, he said.

He remembers being inspired to be a concert pianist when he was 10 and saw the renowned Andre Watts performs in Pasadena.

"It was love at first sight. I knew I wanted to do that," said Eldred, who also studied at the University of Salamanca in Spain.

The 25-year-old has just finalized his program for his Italian tour, which begins at the end of August. He will be playing some of the most difficult works in the piano literature, including Beethoven's "Hammerklavier Sonata" and Debussy's "Images, Book 1."

"The crux of the tour in Italy is two piano competitions," said Marshall, also a 1999 Young Artists' Competition winner, who performed at the Redlands Bowl. "All rounds in both competitions are open to the public, and there will be managers and other concert pianists there. Certainly the stakes are very high."

If he makes it to the final round, Marshall plans to play a Mozart concerto with full orchestra in observance of the 250th anniversary of the great composer's birth.

Marshall returned in April from his official European debut, a series of recitals in Spain where he performed works by Scarlatti, Chopin, Rachmaninoff and Schubert.

"It was a good experience," he said. "Fortunately, I don't get jet lag - my body automatically adjusts to the time differences."

Highlights for the 2007 season include becoming the first black pianist to perform the entire series of Beethoven's piano sonatas in public, he said. "To my knowledge, that is true."

Locally, Marshall plans a recital in the San Bernardino area sometime in October. He has performed in local churches and schools and even has his own piano students.

"Where do I play?" he asks, "Wherever I'm invited."