With my performance on Sunday finished, there was one more hurdle in store for me during my trip to Philadelphia. I had scheduled a lesson with my former teacher from Peabody Conservatory, Roberto Díaz. He had been the principal violist of the National Symphony when I’d studied with him in Baltimore, and he went on to occupy the same chair in the Philadephia Orchestra shortly after I left Baltimore to join the Oregon Symphony. He’s now the president of the Curtis Institute of Music, and in addition to his administrative duties, he also teaches and performs there as well.