I'm always interested in something when it isn't familiar to me.

So I believe in singing to such an extent that if I were asked to redesign the British educational system, I would start by insisting that group singing become a central part of the daily routine. I believe it builds character and, more than anything else, encourages a taste for co-operation with others. This seems to be about the most important thing a school could do for you.

The whole point of art, as far as I’m concerned, is that art doesn’t make any difference. And that’s why it’s important. Take film: you can have quite extreme emotional experiences watching a movie, but they stop as soon as you walk out of the cinema. You can see people being hurt, but even though you feel those things strongly, you know they’re not real.

Human development thus far has been fueled and guided by the feeling that things could be, and are probably going to be, better.

If you want to make someone feel emotion, you have to make them let go. Listening to something is an act of surrender.

I'd rather hold one note for an hour and modulate it so that it means something than play 3,000 notes in 15 seconds.

Put out as much as you can. It doesn't do anything sitting on a shelf.