Quotes

My parents discussed singing every night over the dinner table; I had a tremendous music education.

I don't want to be somebody who stands still and sings pretty. Each song is a world. Each song is a story.

I do everything in the third person. Performance is about someone else.

I have had a very difficult time with stage fright. It undermines your well-being and peace of mind, and it can also threaten your livelihood.

Everybody's a work in progress. I'm a work in progress. I mean, I've never arrived. I'm still learning all the time.

The thing I love to remind people about what I do is we're not even amplified. We are the final, major art form that is 100 percent acoustic and unplugged.

Learning operatic roles is ongoing, and I find that I can learn on the train or subway, getting my hair done, and even while driving - if I only look at the score at red lights.

There's no performance where I never have to think about setting up a phrase or making a technical adjustment while I'm performing.

My worry is that opera will become an historic art form as opposed to a living, breathing thing.

I'm reserved, so I've always needed to find a way of opening up. Jazz helped me do that.

Contrary to the norm, as my technique improved my voice became higher.