Most people don’t expect to hear that I started cello at fourteen. In the classical world, that’s late enough for people to write you off before you even begin. And plenty of people did. I was told I’d never catch up, never make it into a conservatory and never build a real career in classical music. I didn’t accept that. I threw myself into the instrument. Within four years, I won the Greater Buffalo Youth Orchestra Concerto Competition and performed as a soloist with the Bu
