While it's a fact that a voice begins with natural talent, any talent must be nurtured, cajoled, wrestled with pampered, challenged, and, at every turn, examined.

My worry is that opera will become an historic art form as opposed to a living, breathing thing.

Because everything about the voice interests me, I felt it would be fascinating to learn a completely different style of singing.

For years, I had no time for exploratory travel.

I'm American. I'm eclectic. I'm going to follow my musical passions. And if people don't like it, and it hurts my legacy, I'm not going to worry about that.

If I have to hold a note for a long time, I imagine it as moving and spinning, for the note has to have life. In a way, a singer actually refreshes a note with every beat that it's held.

I want to get out of the major opera houses.