I don't have the desire that I think a lot of performers feel - to get the applause. It's not life or death for me. I love it and it's exciting, but it's not something I crave or miss, so I don't need to perform; I don't have that desire. I like to sing, and I love doing what I'm doing, but it's not a dire need.

There's a kind of a line between music and math, so I guess I got the music gene, thank goodness. But my mother wasn't too thrilled. She wanted me to go to university and get a degree or do something, and my father, he liked opera so he wasn't too thrilled either, because he wanted me to be an opera singer and I didn't have - as he said, I don't really have the strength to do that.

Live, love, knowing that we're all free Now that we are blessed in our country And realise how lucky we are

When you have a cavity in your tooth and you let it get worse, eventually you have to get a root canal. If you have something that isn't right, the earlier you treat it the easier the treatment is going to be. That's kind of common sense.

I really love performing with an orchestra and am very excited to do so with the Kalamazoo Symphony.

The "Great Walk to Beijing" was a fundraiser for my cancer center. It was a three-week trek with fellow cancer "thrivers," including celebrities ranging from Joan Rivers to Leeza Gibbons, and Olympians.

I live every day to its fullest extent and I don't sweat the small stuff.