My dad runs a recording studio, and he really loves the sound of the cello.

When it was about time for me to pick an instrument,

my dad said, "Okay you're gonna play the cello."

I was only six, so I was like, "Okay."

But practicing was very difficult, so my dad said to me, "If you continue playing

the cello through sixth grade, then you get to decide whether or not you want to continue."

Come sixth grade my dad said, "Do you want to continue playing the cello?"

I had spent every day of my life for six years practicing and playing the cello.

It would be such a waste to give it up, and I had really grown to love it, so I

decided to go on and continue playing the cello.

My cello was made in 1827. It's

an Italian cello made by Lorenzo Ventapane.

This lady from Providence came to my teacher at New England Conservatory and

said that her dad used to play the cello. He was a diplomat from Italy. He had

brought this cello over, but he never was a concert cellist. She wanted the cello

to go to a student who was serious about the cello and could make the voice of

the cello carry on in the future. I spent a day with them, basically as an audition

before I got to play on the cello, and I played a little bit for them, and that's

how I came across this cello.

When I first joined the Orchestra we went on

tour to Asia. That was my very first tour. It was in October. I joined in September, and

it was Maestro Lorin Maazel who was conducting. We played

Berlioz's "Symphonie fantastique," and I didn't realize that the Orchestra had played it in the

previous season. I think we rehearsed the piece for maybe about half an hour. We

didn't even get through all of it, and then we went on stage and played in

Tokyo, [which] was our first performance. I remember thinking, "Man, everybody knows

this so well! They're just sight-reading this, and it sounds amazing. I better get,

you know, really familiar with this music!"

It was very memorable, because my

parents came from Taiwan to Japan, and it was the first time they were

seeing me playing in the New York Philharmonic, and they got tickets that

were in the balcony, directly across from me, so all I see when I look up from my

music stand — I could see the conductor, and I could see my parents just staring right at me.

Yes! I do remember that. Yes, that was at the Volkswagen factory.

He came up to us afterward, and he said, "You were the best in your row."

And that's what he said in "Ghostbusters."

Bill Murray: That was a wonderful rehearsal.

Sigourney Weaver: You heard that?

Bill Murray: Yes, you're the best one in your row.

This is one of the best cello sections in the world.

Everybody plays at such a high level, and not just that, we're also so close to

each other. We hang out outside of work. A lot of our kids are around the same age,

and they're getting to grow up together hearing the Orchestra and being part of

the family. Being in this section, it really makes me feel like I better stay

in shape. I gotta sound good, because everybody sounds so amazing.

There's so much pride in being in this section, and that's a really great thing.