I can't imagine life without singing.

New York is a great place to be fed in the arts. The arts in general are a large part of my life. The city was my postgraduate course.

The question is not... if art is enough to fulfill my life, but if I am true to the path I have set for myself, if I am the best I can be in the things I do. Am I living up to the reasons I became a singer in the first place?

In spirituals, the talk of heaven and deliverance was code for a better life. 'Crossing the River Jordan' was code, of course, for escaping to freedom.

I think for more than half of my career I have refrained from talking to the media.

I bring my classical training - some of it, but not all of it - and also my background and culture, to spirituals. And I try to leave room for that unpredictable factor, where the feeling of the song is allowed to come through. The same ethos can be applied to singing Mozart, or Schubert, or Bach. It's not just about what's on the page.

Some of the music I listen to is pop. I sing it in the shower - and then for public consumption.