American Quotes

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

I am so envious of my colleagues from 100 years ago who only sang new works, they hardly ever sang revivals.

Having to travel so much plays havoc with your personal life.

For years, I had no time for exploratory travel.

For my own singing, I used to be attracted by the baroque, the flashier the better, but now I prefer a simpler, purer style.

For a while it was hard for me to say no to work.

Every singer eventually gets around to a Christmas disc.

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

Certainly, jazz has become more of a niche, which is surprising, because it's our music. It's the national music of America.

Being steeped in the process of learning and exploring keeps me from becoming too nervous. Partly it's about not getting bored.

Because everything about the voice interests me, I felt it would be fascinating to learn a completely different style of singing.

At this stage in my career, I don't have to take any big risks. You want to take a calculated risk, not one that leads to people saying 'yes, but there was that one time when she made that big mistake.' It's always a shame when that happens, especially if you've gotten by for decades without anythin

A lot of performers don't want to leave the circuit, the European opera house circuit, partly because most singers don't sing many concerts, or at least not while they are in their prime.

I have not changed with the accomplishments. I've remained the same. If I had changed, great. You know, but I haven't.

I have a certain image that's more classic, and I'm happy to stay out of the fray.

I've spent hours and hours doing research into Appalachian folk music. My grandfather was a fiddler. There is something very immediate, very simple and emotional, about that music.

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.

When I was on the ice, in the lights, with the music and the motion, there was a certain kind of flirtation that gave great energy and expressiveness to my performance.

We wanted to be achievers, but being an achiever didn't mean that you stopped being a woman.

Then came the choreography... the impact of music and choreography tends to really emphasize an overall feeling of what you really want out of the program.

The world went by, and we didn't get caught up in all the other things, because we didn't have time. We had no spare time. It was always thinking about training and focusing on what we wanted, our goals.

The first thing is to love your sport. Never do it to please someone else. It has to be yours.

Skating was the vessel into which I could pour my heart and soul.

My sport taught me what I could do with my talents, whether in the rink or in the rest of my life.

In 1968, in the midst of the tumultuous 1960s, the Olympics were much more than just another event.

I think skating helped me find myself.

I really loved what the guys were doing more than anything, how high they jumped, how effortless it was.

Giving life to music through skating was something I wanted to be known for.

As a young child, I played the violin. I think that that started the spark.

When the going got tough, I really had to draw on many of the same competitive instincts I did when I was skating. I really had to put my head down and stay positive. I had to fight.