As the principal pianist for the Pennsylvania Ballet for 45 years, Martha Koeneman has watched generations of dancers come and go, writes Stephanie Farr for The Philadelphia Inquirer.

The average length of a ballet dancer’s career in the U.S. is about 15 years, so Koeneman, 67, has lasted three times as long.

“I’m just enormously fortunate,” Koeneman said. “When you’re working with young people, you think you’re the same age as they are. I’m probably old enough to be their mothers, at least, or probably their grandmothers at this point, but I feel the same as I ever did.”

Koeneman began playing the piano when she was four years old. Her family had a piano in their St. Louis home.

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When she was eight, Koeneman and her family moved to Paoli. She continued to study piano as a student in the Great Valley School District.

In high school, her music teacher took students to see the ballet and opera at the Academy of Music.

“I was mesmerized by the ballet,” Koeneman said. “I remember thinking it would be wonderful to play for the ballet someday.”

Koeneman auditioned for the ballet the summer after she obtained her degree in piano performance from Temple University.

Read more about Martha Koeneman and the Pennsylvania Ballet in The Philadelphia Inquirer by clicking here.