The Peabody Institute of The Johns Hopkins University

There are few relationships as intimate and powerful as those between a professional musician and a beloved instrument. Yet every instrument demands from its player a unique type of relationship. In the stories that follow, five faculty share the highs, the lows, the challenges, and the rewards that come with finding, coddling, and coaxing transcendently beautiful music from the instruments they play.

By Geoff Brown | Photography by Jennifer Bishop

Like Meeting an Old Lover "You think you've found the holy grail of horns, only to find, a few months later, another one." - Philip Munds
Frequent Flyer Flutist "When I opened my eyes, all the security guards started clapping, they just loved it." - Marina Piccinini
The Bass with Surprising Lineage "It looked like someone had taken an awl and punched and scraped it." - Jeffrey Weisner
An Organ That Makes Friends Very Easily "This organ can sound very French, very English, and it always sounds very American." - Donald Sutherland
The Piano That Purred "At London's Wigmore Hall, they have a nine-foot Steinway, and it felt like I was playing a Rolls Royce." - Jeffrey Sharkey