Aya and Nicole were best friends since grade school. They met at the San Francisco Conservatory where their parents had taken them every week for music lessons since they were both four years old. At the time, Aya was learning to play the violin and Nicole was learning to play the cello. For her age, Aya was remarkably good at the violin. Nicole longed to play as well as Aya — so much so that for a long time, she begged her parents to allow her to quit the cello to take up the violin. However, around the time when the girls turned thirteen, they found that their true calling was singing. But this was not the extent of their talents. By the time they were in high school, they were both accomplished dancers and played leading roles in their school’s musicals. [...]