It's logical that people from bad times will reflect their feelings in their communication. Music is part of the communication. If you lived it, you can do it.

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

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.

When I was studying... there weren't any black concert pianists. My choices were intuitive, and I had the technique to do it. People have heard my music and heard the classic in it, so I have become known as a black classical pianist.

I look forward to doing my own show, not someone else's. That's always been my dream.

When I choose material for an album all these songs I grew up with pour into my head.

I was reared in the church from the age of three. I've played piano since I was three. I performed at revivals and for my people around North Carolina for several years. People around town collected money to send me to school.