A lot of performers don't want to leave the circuit, the European opera house circuit, partly because most singers don't sing many concerts, or at least not while they are in their prime.

My whole career I played these girls sort of 18 to 23.

When I sing, the sound is a totally different range, color, all of it. It's all about the breath. You take in a breath and you make a sound.

Being steeped in the process of learning and exploring keeps me from becoming too nervous. Partly it's about not getting bored.

I want to keep my voice young, with nothing heavy.

You finally have to learn to pull all the different kinds of teaching and training and coaching together on you own, so that your voice and body and technique for a sound that is consistent and solid.

For a while it was hard for me to say no to work.