Juan Diego Florez

With El Sistema, you can create orchestras everywhere; then they can decide whether they want to become professional musicians. The aim is not only to create musicians, but to create people.

I concentrated on Rossini when I began, and I never really felt any competition. I sang in the best houses, and I believed I was always a first choice. I was lucky in a way - I never felt there was someone else who was getting the roles in another theatre and that we were competing.

Sometimes at my performances, I see Peruvian flags in the audience. I've never seen, when an Italian sings, people with Italian flags. But with Peru, it's different: because there are not many famous people, they really celebrate the ones they have.

My parents never really wanted me to be a musician at all, because in Peru you don't earn any money that way. But when they realised it was genuinely what I wanted to do, they supported me always.

I don't think I am even the best I can be. I like to listen to other singers and learn from them, but I'm always working on myself, trying to improve, trying to be very tough with myself.

Little by little, when I was doing auditions in New York, I discovered I was good. People there were enthusiastic.

I would love to bring the children from my foundation Sinfonia por el Peru to play with some of the best musicians in the world.

In my concerts, people love when I sing a Latin encore with guitar.

I now have plans to create a school for singers in Vienna, and I would love to found one in the Middle East, too, if possible.

Some people might hate someone who is successful, but in Peru, they love it! It makes them feel they can be successful, too. That's a good state of mind for a country that wants to come out of poverty.

I created a foundation for poor children called Sinfonia por el Peru, where they play in orchestras and choirs, learn values and get away from the bad life, become better citizens in every aspect.

I went to school to learn guitar, solfeggio, and harmony. I wanted to know more about music, how it works. I wanted to take voice lessons, too, and that's when I discovered what I could do with my voice. At the beginning, I thought I would do classical and pop, but then I learned that I really liked the classical music.