The cello is a very fine instrument - just ask Yo-Yo Ma - but it has some fundamental weaknesses. The most obvious one is that there's no way to play more than two of its four strings simultaneously.

He plays his cello through the pain - his new normal - figuring out a way to make the best of it. Playing for weddings is great, he says. Plenty of breaks. Orchestra rehearsals are tolerable.

A Wake County seventh grader is heading to the Big Apple next month to play cello in the National Honors Junior Orchestra at Carnegie Hall. Tristen Johnson, who attends Zebulon Middle Magnet ...

"We love playing the cello for other people," 9-year-old Taran Tien said. "Then we thought about how she was stuck in her house, so we thought it was a great idea and might make her happy." ...