Music was Elaine Rinaldi's life from the first flip of her wrist.

At age 7 she was tapping out Chopin melodies on a Japanese Kawai Baby Grand in her parents' Westchester living room. By 16, she had made her professional debut as a concert pianist with the Fort Lauderdale Chamber Symphony.

A Silver Knight award and a flurry of scholarships and fellowships followed. Degrees were granted; dreams realized.

But a year after earning her master's, a car accident destroyed her upper body, permanently shifting her bones and rendering her unable to play the piano at the level she had become accustomed to.

''I had to practice eight hours a day to be a pianist,'' she said. ``As a concert pianist, physically I would have been at a disadvantage.''

Rinaldi found her second calling -- as a conductor.

She had to start over. She apprenticed herself to conductors, training and traveling in Europe and leading some of the world's best orchestras on New York stages.

At age 41, she is now the founder and conductor of the recently formed Orchestra Miami.

This is her story.

Elaine Rinaldi grew up in a middle-class home with her parents and two siblings, attending local schools and taking piano lessons from Dr. Rosalina Sackstein, a renowned music professor at the University of Miami.

''I only work with people that have the talent, the intelligence and disposition,'' said Sackstein, now 85, who recalls Rinaldi playing for her in her home week in and week out. ``And I took her when she was young. She was one of the most talented students I had.''

As a child, Rinaldi practiced three to four hours a day. She won local and state competitions.

At Southwest High School, she was the rehearsal pianist for musicals such as Guys and Dolls,Pippin and South Pacific. She also played lead role in all three.

She gave free lessons and played yearly recitals with the Young Performers Music Club. She also taught kindergarten students at Blue Lakes Elementary School -- her alma mater -- songs and games to improve memory and teach them colors and numbers.

In 1985 she won the Silver Knight in music. In the audience were her immediate family as well as her grandparents, aunts, uncles and friends.

''It was a big deal,'' Rinaldi recalled. ``I got all dressed up.''

It was a surprise when they called her name.

''You think, well there are so many talented kids out there, but she won,'' said her father Leo Rinaldi.

The following day, her picture appeared on the front page of The Miami Herald.

Rinaldi went on to attend the Eastern Musical Festival, one of the country's most prestigious training programs for aspiring young orchestral and piano students.

''It was an enormous experience for me,'' she said. ``I was 18 and I had never really been around other people like me.''

She attended the Frost School of Music at the University of Miami on a full scholarship, where she continued to study with her childhood teacher and served as president of the Music School Council.

She went on to earn her master's at New York City's Mannes College of Music.

A year into her career, she was struck by a car while riding her bicycle in New York.

The accident devastated her -- physically, mentally and professionally. She spent nearly a year recovering. And then she got back on a bicycle and was struck by a roller-blader, further injuring her.

''It was very bad,'' Rinaldi said.

''She had all of the workings of a concert pianist,'' said Sackstein. ``All the ability and all of the talent. Unfortunately, things happen.''

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