Cereal numbers: Her first cello was made from a Rice Krispies box

Alisa Weilerstein’s connection with her instrument of choice – the cello – is so innate and exceptional that it borders on mystical.At age 2, sick with the itchy rash of the chicken pox, she played with the homemade instruments that her grandmother had built for her out of cereal boxes. She grew frustrated that her Rice Krispies cello couldn’t produce a sound – not even a “snap,” “crackle,” or “pop” – [...]