Cello incident At one point, the first cellist shook his left hand in what appeared to be confusion. It seemed that one of his strings broke and it hurt his palm or one of his fingers, or perhaps something else went haywire. He promptly traded his cello with that of the cellist seated to his right. Then that guy carried — while the orchestra was still playing — the first cellist’s cello up to the third row of cellists, where he exchanged it with another cellist, a woman. She then carried the first cellist’s cello offstage.
Marc views this as example of great camaraderie. Which it is!
But it’s also an example of the hierarchical deference in orchestras that I find gross. Go swap your cello out yourself, First Chair!