Having to travel so much plays havoc with your personal life.

In a way, being an opera singer is like being a very romantic sixteen-year-old who falls in love with great passion and conviction every month.

I have not changed with the accomplishments. I've remained the same. If I had changed, great. You know, but I haven't.

When a human being without amplification makes a sound that is high and loud, it is almost unworldly.

I don't like to sing loud.

Very few opera singers in history have been able to cross into popular music.

I've spent hours and hours doing research into Appalachian folk music. My grandfather was a fiddler. There is something very immediate, very simple and emotional, about that music.