On being a musician
I’ve been a musician for 25 years, even more, if you count those elementary school lessons on the recorder. At the end of my 4 th grade year, Ms. Heinze, the Churchill High School orchestra director, came to my elementary school to recruit new players for her after school beginner string program. I walked timidly into the music room, not sure what to expect. Instruments lined the room for us to hold and try on. Which instrument should I pick? What’s that huge one in the corner? The bass? There’s no way I, a 10-year-old, was going to physically be able cart that huge instrument to and from lessons. Pass. What about the cello? Tempting. I could sit down and play. But then I tried picturing myself getting a cello on and off the school bus. Not going to happen. I made my way to the table where the smaller instruments were. I bypassed the table with the violas on it, because even at a young age, I had the foresight to kn...