I'm not going to play my violin, but with my dwarfism, I'm a bit of a mutant.
Since I first picked up the violin, I've been very interested in tone and texture: I would have very visceral reactions to the texture of a snare drum or a pedal steel guitar or a violin.
I actually wanted to play the violin before I had polio, and then afterwards, there was no reason not to.
I approach everything as chamber music. Even with Beethoven symphonies, I lead from the violin and basically encourage the orchestra to think of it as a giant string quartet.
I think when I was pretty young I got really into the tone of my instrument and I remember just playing one note for an hour to just kind of feel the resonance of the violin.
The difference between a violin and a viola is that a viola burns longer.
Fundamentally I feel that there is as much difference between the stage and the films as between a piano and a violin. Normally you can't become a virtuoso in both.
Playing the violin and singing and whistling are just three different ways of making sound.
