Brandon Leu wouldn't team up with just any other musician. As a pianist with autism, 24-year-old Leu sought a musical partner with a shared sensibility.
Someone like Noah Johnson.
Johnson, who is blind, has been taking piano lessons at MacPhail — via Skype — since 2013. Two years ago, Leu enrolled in a certificate program at MacPhail. He first heard Johnson perform at the studio recital of Diana Bearmon, the teacher they share.
Since March, Leu and 17-year-old Johnson have spent hours playing duets. The duo's challenges, but more so their abilities and shared love for music, have created a special bond, leaving both enriched.
And their teacher enriched, too.
"Seeing them perform was magical," said Bearmon, a piano veteran who has been with MacPhail for three decades. "They were talking to each other on the piano."
Leu's ability to cue Johnson, combined with Johnson's capacity to hear a wrong note from a mile away, results in "electricity between them," Bearmon said.
"Come on … 1, 2, 3, 4," Leu coached his partner, his voice filling the fifth floor studio where he and Johnson rehearsed a piece from Italian pianist Ettore Pozzoli's "Smiles of Childhood."