One of my very closest friends is a pianist in her secret life. Her other friends and co-workers probably have no idea that she’s an immensely talented and expressive musician. Ages ago we got to make music together every day, a collaboration we took for granted at the time. Today we played together for the first time in many years, Schumann and things. It was pretty remarkable, how she came back to notes she hadn’t played in over a decade and breathed and watched and listened as if she did this all the time.
By “play well with others,” I certainly don’t mean “play correctly” with others. That’s silly and not at all what we did today. What I mean is, collaborate. Share energy, breathe, move. Don’t be afraid to play wrong notes.
Playing with such a dear friend reminds me that chamber music is a unique bond between people; there is something that happens between the notes that can’t be captured any other way. Today I feel very lucky to be a musician.
one note at a time 