I never took any vocal training

Maybe I'm old-fashioned. But I remember the beauty and thrill of being moved by Broadway musicals - particularly the endings of shows.

I have always thought of music as a highway with many lanes.

There have been studies that clearly state that children who are exposed to arts education at a young age will in fact do markedly better in their SAT tests

I can make a song up about anything: garbage, the weather, things in the news.

I was always drawn to Broadway musicals, and obviously composers like Gershwin, Rodgers, Berlin and Porter were writing music that I found wildly impressive.

I don't think they understand it's as important as math and science. It rounds you out as a person. I think it gives you a love of certain things. You don't have to become the next great composer. It's just nice to have heard certain things or to have seen certain things. It's part of being a human being.