What this musician’s identity crisis teaches us about navigating change
Shervin Lainez
Joshua Roman doesn't remember the first time he played the cello. What he does remember is a UPS lady delivering a box bigger than him — then a boy of three — and feeling a rush of excitement from head to toe.
"By the time I was six or so, I was telling everyone this is what I'm gonna do for the rest of my life," Roman says. "And I just knew it. It wasn't a question."
toggle caption Joshua Roman
Roman's devotion to music was a natural extension of his family's. His father, Rev. Paul David Roman, was the music director for churches in the Oklahoma City area. It was in those churches where Roman would practice and play, often with his mother, Becky, at the piano.
toggle caption Fiona Geiran/NPR
PLAY CASSETTE: Joshua Roman, as a teen, performs the "Prelude" from Cello Suite no. 6 by J.S.
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