There are days that I get neurotic with the instrument [violin]. Every little adjustment will change the balance for good or for bad. It's kind of a miracle, the way the whole thing works as an acoustical whole, so perfectly balanced that any little thing will - which also means the weather, the humidity.

I grew up in a musical family, but nobody was a professional musician.

When you play for ticket-holders, you are already validated. I have no sense that I need to be accepted. I'm already accepted.

The best way to refine an interpretation is by getting out and performing.

Although I hardly ever turn on the TV set unless it's football season, I do watch a lot of TV on my iPad - perfect for long airplane journeys.

We live in the least ugly time in history.

Being a classical musician, you're doing many things anyway. One day you're doing Bach concerto and the next you're doing some avant-garde thing. It's just another hat that I'm allowed to wear.