Passion will trump gift every time

This is a continuation of the previous blog post.

One day my dad got a panicked call from a parent of a piano student from our school - something in his piano had broken, could my dad look at it? As a college student my dad had taught himself to tune pianos to save money, and this is the primary reason why sis and I had perfect pitch as children. 

He went over and saw a banged up upright piano. He opened it and was stunned, because the hammers were worn completely down. This student hadn't been particularly noticeable during recitals and competitions, given that there were many students from our piano school back then who played in Carnegie Recital Hall. My dad asked: how many hours does your daughter practice piano every day? 

Five to eight hours.

That's how much she loved music. Years later, this student ended up getting her PhD from Juilliard and became a worldwide concertizing artist.