A talented child will have a schedule that is horrendous. You get up and practice, go to school, practice some more, eat dinner, and then you have homework.
The problems of the disabled are unpopular.
A sponge has that much absorbent capability and after a while you can pour water over it and nothing stays.
In the musician, there is a tendency to have a narrowness. It's all compartmentalized. I am playing the violin; that's all I know, nothing else, no education, no nothing. You just practice every day.
There is no such thing as getting rid of nervousness.
The difference is that with Ebola, it is such a devastating disease, and there is still no cure. They're still working on vaccines. The fact of the matter with polio, there is a cure; there is a vaccine.
I feel that you always pay when you are a child.
I listen to kids play a lot.
There are people who are uncanny, who are finished products at a young age. I wasn't, thank God.
Competition can be the most nerve-racking experience. Some people just thrive on it.
In Paris they have special wheelchairs that go through every doorway. They don't change the doorways, they change the wheelchairs. To hell with the people! If someone weighs a couple more pounds, that's it!
When you play a concerto with a small orchestra, you don't feel it is as important as Carnegie Hall. You try to work out all the little problems. Once that's all done, trust comes in.
Sometimes you get from the mouth of kids wonderful things.
Child prodigy is a curse because you've got all those terrible possibilities.
That makes classical music work, the ability to improvise.
I look at raising funds for The Perlman Music Program as a challenge and as a way to provide opportunities for people who care about the future of classical music.
Preparing for a future in music is an expensive proposition.
The most important thing to do is really listen.
This young wine may have a lot of tannins now, but in five or 10 years it is going to be spectacular, despite the fact that right now it tastes like crude oil. You know this is how it is supposed to taste at this stage of development.
One of the most important elements in teaching, conducting, and performing, all three, is listening.
