Nathan Hecht plays piano, Brett Busby plays violin Texas Supreme Court Chief Justice Nathan Hecht plays piano while Justice Brett Busby plays violin at the high court's holiday party Dec. 12 in Austin. Photo: Nubia Devine

There was an extra spark this year when Texas Supreme Court justices and their staff gathered to sing "Frosty The Snowman," "Winter Wonderland" and "Let It Snow."

The high court's holiday parties of lore always featured piano work by Chief Justice Nathan Hecht, who's played piano since he was 10 years old and has often provided the musical backbone for services at his church.

A brand new justice's musical talents have now been added to the mix. Justice Brett Busby, a violinist since he was 3 years old, has played formally in a community symphony in Houston for years.

Appointed to a vacancy in February by Gov. Greg Abbott, this was Busby's first experience at a Supreme Court holiday party, and the musical debut of the Hecht-Busby combo Dec. 12 at the University of Texas Alumni Center in Austin.

By some accounts, it was a dazzler.

"Having them both up there, it just makes it more fun," said Justice Eva Guzman, who tweeted about the performance after the party. "I like—because we're all so happy when we sing it— 'Frosty The Snowman.' It reminds me of being a kid. They led us, and played all the holiday carols, and that was fun."

When the duo played the classical piece, "Allegretto," by Richard Strauss, the audience was captivated.

"It was beautiful," Guzman said. "You could hear a pin drop."

Hecht said it's great playing with Busby.

"He's very good. It's a real pleasure playing with him," Hecht said. "He's very passionate: He pours his heart in his music, and he's technically very good."

Busby echoed the sentiment, noting that playing with Hecht has been his sole chance to pick up his violin of late. Because he and his family still live in Houston, where he used to serve on the Fourteenth Court of Appeals, he's been commuting to Austin for Supreme Court oral arguments since March. That has eaten into his time playing with the Houston Civic Symphony, a community orchestra.

This new gig is one of many interesting twists and turns Busby's life as a musician has taken.

For example, he took up the violin when he was just a toddler. His parents and teacher handed him a box that butter used to come in, with some paper glued on, and a pencil for a bow.

"You practice how to hold the instrument, before they give you a real one to play," he explained.

Busby stuck with it through high school and college, but law school was too hectic for such extracurricular activities. Then something happened in his young career pushed him back into music.

He was serving as a law clerk for U.S. Supreme Court Justice Byron White, who retired in 1993, then clerked for Justice John Paul Stevens. Busby recalled that Justice Sandra Day O'Connor was infamous for making law clerks who had musical talent play something for her on the spot.

"I didn't clerk for her, but it didn't matter: She'd find any clerk for any justice and make you play something," he noted.

One day, as O'Connor was in the midst of planning a birthday party for her husband, she called Busby into the cafeteria to meet her friend who had brought two very impressive violins for musicians to play at the party: a Stradivarius and a Guarneri. Those makes of violin are so renowned and rare that they've sold for up to $16 million apiece.

"Justice O'Connor said, 'We're going to have a dress rehearsal tomorrow. Brett, why don't you bring your violin and play something?'" Busby remembered, noting that he hadn't played in six years. "What was I going to say? "

He knocked the dust off his violin that night. At the rehearsal, as he unpacked his instrument, the man with the invaluable violins stopped him.

"He said, 'Oh, no. Play my violins,'" Busby said. "That really inspired me to get back to playing."

Busby said it's been a gift to play with Hecht. Aside from their spotlight at the Supreme Court holiday party, the duo played together at a continuing legal education event in San Antonio earlier this year.

Their rendition of "Texas, Our Texas" elicited a generous reception from the audience of lawyers, who sang along to the song when Busby and Hecht played it a second time.

Hecht said he hopes the pair get more opportunities to perform in the future.

"We're looking for other times to do it, but we haven't done it yet. We're still looking. No one has offered to hire us," he joked.