It was a calling. It was just clear to me that this is what I was going to do. I was about six or seven months out of school. I've now been with the Philharmonic for 21 years. It's very much like a sport, where you have to do it a certain amount every day just to be in shape enough to do it.
Some people do develop tendinitis, or different kinds of repetitive stress injury.
Here are excerpts from two New York Philharmonic Special Editions recordings, one prominently featuring the flute, the other the piccolo. It's a special chair with a flat back. Since I'm not that tall, I got one sized for my height, which is about 5 feet 5 inches. I think that when you know you can't get sick, you don't get sick. The New York Philharmonic's performance home is Avery Fisher Hall at Lincoln Center in New York Flutes do, almost always, have the melody.