Classical music is one of the best things that ever happened to mankind. If you get introduced to it in the right way, it becomes your friend for life.

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.

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

I remember when I was growing up. My great wish was to understand who I was and how I fit in the world.

Sharing is a much better way to communicate than proving.

But an innovation, to grow organically from within, has to be based on an intact tradition, so our idea is to bring together musicians who represent all these traditions, in workshops, festivals, and concerts, to see how we can connect with each other in music.

What came up at age 49 is I realized that of all the things I'm interested in, the thing I'm most interested in is figuring out what makes people tick, why people think the way they do, why they act the way they do. And I realized that music is such a great way to investigate why people do what they do.