Stand Partners
    
There is a certain bond that comes through the making of music, and none is as strong a connection as the stand partner. As second chair cellist, I sit next to the most advanced musician in our section; we share music, his markings are my markings, and mine are his. Though he started the same year we all did, his musical talent quickly overcame our best efforts. As his stand partner I know his playing in a way no other orchestra member does. I can see the way he shifts when it isn’t necessary and uses vibrato on pizzicato notes, gracefully coming off them in a flourish, sense when he knows my strings aren’t quite in tune and is trying hard not to correct me.
    
When at other concerts I hear a cello solo, close my eyes, and try to pretend it is he who is playing it, but I can’t. I know it isn’t him because I can’t hear him dramatically sliding into a long note or the click of strings against the fingerboard when the emotion is high. I can tell by the way they start the vibrato at the beginning of a note, instead of gradually easing into it, that the musician is not him.

When he does start to play, however, my heart leaps with the joy of unspoken friendship. I revel in the predictability his movements have to me and no one else, in the way I know exactly how he will sway to the bow strokes, lean into the low notes, and toss his head back at the finale, all at my side.

He is unafraid to teach me things he knows and I don’t, unafraid to call me out on a mistake. This unfiltered truth creates a bond of trust. I injured my hand, and though I could play, I couldn’t tune my instrument. He was quick to notice this and volunteer to help, even before I asked, a smile on his face.

As first chair, he gets all the cello solos that come around. He never brags, just nods gratefully, turns, and offers it to me. I have never accepted, knowing how he deserves it, but the gesture shows the mutual respect we hold.

Through our bond, I have grown as a musician and as a friend. He has taught me much, and I can only hope I have done the same. Here’s to the power of music!