I approach the entrance of Steinway & Sons, hesitating before entering for the first time. I am alone for a moment, admiring and intimidated by rows of glossy, grand pianos. Byron gestures towards the back to play the $350,000 concert grand. Sitting on the plush leather bench, I play Chopin’s Nocturne in E-Flat Major, a piece I first heard when I was eight on a Walmart Piano Classics CD. The keys feel heavy on my fingers, and the room floods with a richness of trills. As I reach the cadenza, Byron claps enthusiastically. I no longer feel like an imposter.
Xing Zhang is a population health professor and lives in Phoenix, Arizona. She enjoys playing piano from the Romantic era, figure skating, and dancing.