Gloria Banderas has been a successful pianist for her entire life. Gloria had played piano for the first time at age five after hearing her teacher play "To a Wild Rose," and she replicated the song on her own. When her parents realized she had a gift, they groomed her for her talent. While her father very lovingly encouraged her, her mother often used abusive enforcement to have Gloria practice the piano. When Gloria was old enough, she began traveling the world to perform. She was incredibly popular and successful but had two divorces and a bleak view of her life.

Now, her fingers have been stiff and cramping, making it difficult for her to play. After going to the doctor about it, they told her that it was all in her head and had no real solution for her.

One day, Gloria is alone practicing on a stage at Carnegie Hall when a woman named Adrienne notices her. Adrienne notes Gloria's stressed demeanor and invites her to have drinks in her apartment. Gloria follows her to the apartments right above Carnegie called The Carnegie Hall Studio Towers, where she meets a man named William. Many other artists live there. Once William and Adrienne convince her to confess what is troubling her, she becomes friends with both of them.

She quits the show at Carnegie Hall that Henry, her manager, who is also her husband, booked for her and gives no explanation. She only tells him that she needs space. Gloria then rents the empty apartment that Adrienne mentioned to her that was incredibly cheap. She is at a stage with her husband where she doesn't miss him, and she believes this apartment will be an excellent place for her to hide away until she figures out how to fix her fingers. In the meantime, she lives around Adrienne, William, and the other Carnegie Hall Studio Towers tenants. At the same time, she stews with her turbulent emotions. She also goes to numerous doctors for her malfunctioning fingers. One told her that the solution was a dangerous operation on her cervical spine, which frustrated her. She begins thinking about the previous tenant, who was a frustrated piano student who committed suicide by leaping out of the window. She begins leaving the windows closed no matter what.

Gloria eventually decides she is sick of doctors and resolves never to play piano again. Later, Adrienne introduces Gloria to a seventeen-year-old girl named Faye. Gloria speculates that Adrienne did so to "fix" her, but Gloria won't have it. Faye plays for Gloria to hear, but Gloria makes Faye cry by telling her that she'll never be a soloist. But Faye continues to be Gloria's student. At the same time, Gloria makes little effort to teach her, as she feels Faye is only interested in being able to say that she had learned from Gloria Banderas. Gloria grew more and more depressed and began neglecting herself.

One day, Henry finds her, and she realizes she doesn't want to marry him anymore. Even though Henry starts by telling her he misses her, she eventually tells him she wants a divorce. Henry seems disappointed, but the tone of his reaction makes Gloria suspect that Henry is already sleeping with someone else. Henry says he still wants to help her and suggests a doctor with a solution that Gloria has yet to hear: a doctor who would inject her muscles with botulism poison. Gloria is skeptical. After Henry leaves, Gloria hears a chanting outside and sees people protesting outside the Towers. She goes downstairs to see what's going on. She finds out from Adrienne, who is also protesting, that someone plans to demolish Carnegie Hall to erect a skyscraper. The tenets were protesting the potential loss of their home. Gloria seems unimpressed by their efforts, as their protest consists of dancing in the building and on the street. But Adrienne insists they are doing all they can, and sometimes you must fight for yourself.

Later, Gloria has her appointment with the doctor Henry mentioned, and he tells her that her condition is called "dystonia." He injects the poison into the muscles that control her fingers.

At first, the doctor's treatment doesn't work. Still, eventually, her fingers begin to improve until they are back to normal. She was so glad that she began playing constantly. She tells Henry, who reacts supportively and begins scheduling her more concerts. She tells Adrienne, who is happy for her. She also gently tells Faye that she will no longer teach her. Gloria opens the windows for the first time.

But on the day that she was meant to perform at Carnegie, as she is seated on stage about to begin, she realizes that she doesn't want to do this for the rest of her life. Whenever she is interviewed, journalists always negatively mention her three husbands. She is acutely aware that she is not liked in the industry, as people perceive her playing style as masculine and arrogant. She doesn't want to live in the public eye anymore. So, Gloria joyfully plays "To a Wild Rose" and walks off the stage.