Chapter ThreeI never minded performing. It didn’t matter if it was for my parents’ friends or an entire auditorium full of people and judges and colleagues. I never worried, even, about playing perfectly, and made plenty of mistakes at the proverbial worst possible moment.
To me, music always did whatever it was going to do. It cooperated with its environment and couldn’t be mastered. I’ve played perfectly and received nothing but polite applause in return, and I’ve f****d it up all over the place, technically, and been washed with a tidal wave of mutual love between myself and the audience.
Bad nights, bad auditions, bad competitions never seemed to belong to me any more than the good ones did. The thrill, for me, was the mystery of that energy, all the factors I had no hope of preparin
