do you do

in philadelphia, a pianist from curtis asked me what i do. given that this happened at rehearsal for a concert i’d play the next day, i didn’t really know how to answer. “well, this,” i said, motioning around. 

a little later, the same pianist pointed to another artist who would play in the concert, a highly recognized leader in the field, and asked, “so what’s he do?” even more puzzled, i again answered, “this. this is what he does.” 

i have a question, too. what are they teaching pianists at curtis?