I was given so much advice. About how my hair should be, what I should — Joanna MacGregor

"As a musician you can cover everything. Im not just a concert pianist."

"Memory is the fear, and I play most of my repertoire from memory."

"I quite like shutting the door, putting the answering machine on and sitting at the piano for six or seven hours."

"I know I get up peoples noses," "Everyone wants to pigeonhole you. Early on in my career I somehow got labelled Bach, John Cage and a bit of jazz. But the fact that I love to play Beethoven, too, really infuriates people. It doesnt fit. They cant make sense of it. The received wisdom is that you cant possibly do all these things without it sounding terrible or crass or just plain wrong."

"Im becoming very interested in non-Western things, and in Europe a lot of whats offered to me is the Western tradition Ive grown up with. Now Ive got to find a way out, but the problem is that the piano is just about as Western as you can get. The pianos my instrument, and I wouldnt want it any other way, but Im gravitating quite naturally towards things that have developed my sense of rhythm. "Ive come to all this incredible Indian classical music and its more modern formations late in the day; the Messiaen Ive played has led me down that road, and Ive been following my nose all the time."

"Ive played Bach since I was a little girl. I cant let a day go by without playing him. Hes so witty and secretive and funny and mathematical and brilliant."