I was recently playing for a symphony orchestra for the first time. I was delighted to notice that there was a pianist at a concert grand piano in the orchestra. However at no point during any of the songs could I even hear the pianist playing. Maybe it`s because the viola section is so far back. But listening to the recording, I couldn`t even hear a piano at all. So I was wondering, what gives? What`s the point of having a pianist in the orchestra, and what kind of music do they play (accompaniment, chords only, etc.)?