Stand Partners for Life

The Stand Partners for Life Podcast

The Stand Partners for Life podcast was produced by Nathan Cole and Akiko Tarumoto, violinists at the time with the Los Angeles Philharmonic. Forty-six episodes are available from December 21, 2017 to December 3, 2022.

In their podcast episodes, Nathan and Akiko talked about performing auditions, the good and bad traits of young conductors, how an orchestral musician’s skills might decline over time, stand partner etiquette, life on tour with the orchestra, dealing with ergonomics and injuries, and more. Episode 9 (April 25, 2018) with Nate Harrington about how a professional musician learns to integrate with Hollywood is especially entertaining.

I have listened to all forty-two episodes of this podcast. I enjoyed this view into the lives of professional orchestral musicians, and I highly recommend the podcast.

Other Podcasts

I learned about the podcast from listening to Joel Dallow’s The Cello Sherpa Podcast.

Noa Kageyama of The Bulletproof Musician interviewed Nathan and Akiko for the September 2, 2018 episode, Nathan Cole and Akiko Tarumoto: On Practice, Lifelong Learning, and Balancing Life with Work and Audition Preparation.

Dr. Renée-Paule Gauthier of the Mind Over Finger podcast interviewed Nathan for the October 19, 2018 episode, Nathan Cole: Mindful and Efficient Practice Tips from the LA Phil’s First Associate Concertmaster.

Christopher Still of The Honesty Pill podcast interviewed Nathan Cole for the October 26, 2020 episode, Ep. 5: Nathan Cole on perfectionism, technology, and his favorite barbecue resource.

Recent News

In 2024, Nathan Cole was named Concertmaster of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, as described in articles at violinist.com and the Boston Globe. But according to All Is Yar, Nathan was a candidate for Concertmaster at the Los Angeles Philharmonic, playing in concerts on June 3–7, 2026. (Vineta Sareika was chosen for this position.)

Again according to All Is Yar in the same article published June 11, 2026, Akiko Tarumoto “played guest concertmaster [with the LA Phil] on multiple weeks in a non-trial/non-audition capacity under guest conductors over recent months.” I am unable to find any current information about what Akiko is doing professionally in Boston since Nathan took the position at the BSO.

Given the recent turmoil at the Boston Symphony Orchestra, I wonder what Nathan’s and Akiko’s plans are.