Looking for inspiration in expression, I have actually always looked to singers and violinists. I have never really looked only at the recorder as a remedy for my expressions.

When you play the oboe, the flute or other wind instruments, there is something between you and the breath; there is the embouchure, the reed, etc. But with the recorder, I receive an immediate response from the instrument. This is something that attracted me to the instrument, that I could immediately feel the response of what I was doing.

I think that today, in Europe at least, people don't tend to think so much about the instrument that is producing the music; they are more interested to see if the musician actually has something to say.

When I was very young, Denmark was a very small country, and we still are, but it was then very provincial and everybody knew everybody. Now, we are very much like the rest of the world, especially with the arrival of the internet.

It was quite unusual to use the recorder as a concert instrument. But my mother, a pianist, actually helped me a lot by assuming that anything done on the piano can easily be done on the recorder! She helped me with technique and was just as critical about my playing as she was with her own. I think that has been one of my fortunes.

You need to express things stronger today, more so than in the Baroque time, and you need to expand the expressiveness of the instrument.

In concert, I often try to feel the audience and feel their way of hearing. If I feel that there is no contact between the audience and the music, I try to look stronger within myself, hoping that this will lead to a better contact.