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Mark gave a solemn nod. “That’s the most important thing for a musician,” he said to the little girl. “Working hard will take you very far.”
“My big brother plays the cello.” She pointed to a boy who looked about twelve, standing on the other side of her father, staring at him, mouth gaping, and brown eyes wide.
Mark turned to the boy. “Ah, the cello. A wonderful instrument.”
The boy nodded, still wide-eyed.
“What’s your name?”
“C-Cody,” he said in a soft voice.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Cody. Do you like playing the cello?”
He closed his mouth and gave three sharp nods.
Mark grinned. “That’s wonderful. Do you work as hard as your sister?”
The boy shrugged, but his sister piped up. “He was just accepted to the Special Music School!”
“Wow!” Mark glanced at their father. “That’s the public school run by the Kaufman Music Center, right?”
The older man nodded.
Mark’s eyebrows lifted and grinned at the boy. “Great job, Cody!”
Cody’s eyes sparkled with pride even as he bit his lip.
“Work hard, both of you, and maybe we’ll play together someday.” The little girl gasped and clapped her hands together. Cody allowed a grin to burst through his shyness.
An older couple approached as Mark stood and he smiled warmly at them.
“Hallo, Mark.” The gray-haired man spoke with a heavy German accent and extended his hand to Mark, his eyes warm, “I am Lukas Schneider and this is my wife, Gisela. We wanted to tell you how much we enjoyed your concert. We had seen you at your music school recital many years ago, in Düsseldorf, and—”
“When we saw you were coming here on tour,” Gisela interrupted with a similar accent, “we couldn’t resist coming to hear you play again!”
“Danke,” Mark replied in German, shaking each of their hands, and continued speaking in German. The man’s gentle demeanor reminded him of Wilhelm, the father of the man who rescued his parents from certain death, his godfather Alex. “What brought you to New York fromDeutschland?”
The woman smiled. “Our daughter fell in love with an American during college and stayed and married him.”
“We came out a few years ago to visit our grandchildren.” Lukas gave a small shrug but his eyes shone with pride. “We couldn’t bring ourselves to move back home.”
Mark nodded, his brows drawn together. “It’s hard being away from family.”
“Is your family still back home?” Gisela asked.
“They are. They don’t travel much.”
“Do you see them often?”
Mark’s heart twisted in his chest. “Not as much as I’d like.”
“I am sure they are very proud of you,” she said.
“I think they are.”
Mark chatted for a few more minutes with the couple. Though he was a native speaker of both English and German, it wasn’t often he got to use the language of the country he’d grown up in, and he relished the opportunity.
Mark finished his conversation with the Schneiders and then worked his way through the lobby, greeting audience members and signing autographs. His favorite part was spending time with the children, most of whom had some sort of interest in music. He encouraged them to work hard and practice every day. More than one parent gave him a thankful nod or smile when their child promised they would.
