Beethoven and Beatles, Mozart and Michael Jackson, Paganini and Prince - I like them all.
Vanessa MaeIn winter I go skiing on Saturdays and Sundays when the slopes are quieter due to changeover day for tourists, and in summer I hike up into the mountains at sunset, just as the village is settling down to dinner.
Vanessa MaeThe stage is the best experience in the world. It's a great compliment to be able to share the music, because people can hear my album but they don't get to make the connection in the same way as when it's one-to-one.
Vanessa MaeBut I still think it's mind over matter in the sense that if you're strong, you can combat anything.
Vanessa MaeTo even get to the Olympics, I have to qualify for the 2013 World Championships and the standard is high. I know I am always going to be a few points behind the top guys.
Vanessa MaeYou can insure yourself up to your eyeballs, but if you don't take risks, what's the point? You have to enjoy life.
Vanessa MaeFor example, I loved English and history at school. I would have loved to have done a degree in either. But my Mom said I didn't have time for university.
Vanessa MaeWhen I hit my 20s, I took a chill pill and relaxed because throughout my teens I was churning out an album a year. It was a treadmill of work then recording, promoting and touring.
Vanessa MaeI could have taken the easy life and just done classical, but I felt very strongly about the album, my first pop album, the first time that I'd fused so many influences. I was very proud when it was in the charts in 25 countries at once.
Vanessa MaeI've decided to make my main priority for the next two years not playing the violin, but training for the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia.
Vanessa MaeI started skiing around the same time as I began playing the piano, at around four, before moving to the violin at five.
Vanessa MaeKids can be born with potential but unless it's encouraged - pushed, even - I don't think it will ever come to fruition.
Vanessa Mae