There was no such thing as a solo career in East Germany. You had to get the best orchestra job that you could.

In Berlin... it's important to present a concert that will change their ears... so if you present a Tchaikovsky symphony, you get almost no audience.

I sometimes joke - but the joke is not so wrong - that after my time in East Germany, I could either afford therapy to work through what happened under the Communists or move to New York.

I remember my first time coming to New York City. It was 1986, and I was on a U.S. tour with a stop at Lincoln Center. It was love at first sight.

Traditional education is based on facts and figures and passing tests - not on a comprehension of the material and its application to your life.

Government will not fail to employ education, to strengthen its hands, and perpetuate its institutions.

My father, a math professor in Hong Kong, worked as an electrical engineer here. My mother was an art teacher, but once we came to the United States, she went back to school and became certified as a special-education teacher.

The Illinois Holocaust Museum & Education Center serves as a poignant reminder of our past and a trusted source of education for schoolchildren, community members, and visitors from across the country.