I've been traveling all over the world for 25 years, performing, talking to people, studying their cultures and musical instruments, and I always come away with more questions in my head than can be answered.

After reaching 50, I began to wonder what the root of life is.

Culture opens our hearts to one another. And the currency in culture is not money, but trust.

Music has always been transnational; people pick up whatever interests them, and certainly a lot of classical music has absorbed influences from all over the world.

You must have a reason to be in the places to which you go, and you must do only things that you really care about.

I play an instrument that has four strings, and I'm still trying to get it right. What I've tried to do in the process of playing these four strings is to try and understand the people I meet, the stories they have to tell. And then become an advocate for them and their stories through music.

You go through phases. You have to reinvent reasons for playing, and one year's answer might not do for another.