Both Kees Boersma, 55, and Kirsty McCahon, 51, play double bass, he with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra, she formerly with the Australian Brandenburg Orchestra. They have two sons, and have supported each other through crushing illnesses.

Kirsty McCahon: "We were told not to have children, not to make big life decisions, that Kees would be in a wheelchair within six months." Credit:Louise Kennerley

KEES: I grew up in South Australia, but was born in Holland, one of eight children. I initially played recorder, then double bass. Music was a very different course to take compared to my siblings, but when I joined the Australian Youth Orchestra (AYO) and was around like-minded people, it energised me and made me wonder if I could have a life in music.

Kirsty and I met at the Victorian College of the Arts in 1985 when I was 21, but it feels like I’ve always known her. She certainly made an impression on me; she’s a real force of nature. But we were both in relationships, so the next few years were quite convoluted. Two years later, we played together in an AYO program and felt very drawn to each other, but it wasn’t until 1989 that we got together properly. I’d been working in Amsterdam for two years and when I returned to Melbourne we both worked for Orchestra Victoria and had a very intense, wonderful year together; it felt very right.

In 1990, I was fortunate enough to get principal bass at Sydney Symphony, and Kirsty went off to Paris. She wanted to develop herself musically and when she moved to Sydney [in 1993], we finally moved in together. Towards the end of 1994, I landed heavily in a chair and smacked my elbow on the armrest. I kept playing but it developed into a more serious issue and over the next three years, there were episodes where muscle groups in my left-hand side wouldn’t function. I saw every doctor I could and was ultimately diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. After four years, the diagnosis was readjusted to multifocal motor neuropathy [but] many doctors told me I’d never play again.