I demand perfection in what I do, and I practice very hard before I give a concert-sometimes three to six hours a day.

I applied for a scholarship to Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia. I knew I was good enough, but they turned me down. And it took me about six months to realize it was because I was black. I never really got over that jolt of racism at the time.

This may be a dream, but I'll say it anyway: I was supposed to be married last year, and I bought a gown. When I meet Nelson Mandela, I shall put on this gown and have the train of it removed and put aside, and kiss the ground that he walks on and then kiss his feet.

We have ordered things so long in a certain way, we are numb. Nobody dares question it. This is what is wrong, symbolically, with America.

Everything that happened to me as a child involved music. It was part of everyday life, as automatic as breathing.

I don't like to go to strange places.

You have to learn to get up from the table when love is not being served.