Mass General News, by Jennifer Nejman Bohonak, May 23
In March, when COVID-19 cases were skyrocketing in Boston, young musicians and siblings Elizabeth and Ethan Qian-Tsuchida from Newton, Mass., heard notes of fear and uncertainty.
Their father, Toby Tsuchida, information security officer at Massachusetts General Hospital, and their mother, Kelly Qian-Tsuchida, a pharmacist at Winchester Hospital, shared stories from the frontlines: Intensive care units filling up with very sick patients; the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center becoming a field hospital; family friends working in health care making great sacrifices and saving lives.
Responding to COVID-19 Fears
Elizabeth, 14, an eighth grader at Bigelow Middle School in Newton, has played piano since she was about 5 years old, performing in national competitions at Carnegie Hall. Her brother, Ethan, 12, began playing cello two years ago after studying other instruments. “There is always going to be hope and inspiration, even during dark times.”
They wanted to use their talent to bring hope to an anxious community and raise money for health care workers. The brother-sister duo performed together before the COVID-19 pandemic, but with stay-at-home orders moving their music groups online, they have become each other’s only real-time music partners.
Elizabeth and Ethan created an online fundraising page through Mass General’s BeCause community and are posting weekly piano and cello duets. So far, they have raised more than $2,500.
Classical Expressions
The siblings use their living room to record their concerts. As they perform, they appear as silhouettes — an artistic decision to emphasize that Boston is in a dark time right now, explains Elizabeth. “Music is the light at the end of the tunnel. There is always going to be hope and inspiration, even during dark times,” she says. When Elizabeth feels uneasy, she plays piano — listening as the notes she knows by heart float on air and calm her.