Passion is one great force that unleashes creativity, because if you're passionate about something, then you're more willing to take risks.

Good things happen when you meet strangers.

As a musician I'm kind of nomadic, Waldo-like. I show up in different places, and I'm witness to unbelievable things.

Once something is memorable, it's living and you're using it. That to me is the foundation of a creative society.

One of the most interesting aspects of the film project was collaborating with so many people - directors, filmmakers, and writers - over a five-year period. I learned that there are two components to this.

The tradition of classical music and the opera is such that it used to be the place where social intercourse could take place between all parts of society: politicians, industrialists, artists, citizens, etc. That tradition, I think, still exists, but it's much, much more diluted.

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