Music has given me over 40 years of extraordinary experiences. I can't say that life's pains or more tragic episodes have been diminished because of it. But it's allowed me so many moments of companionship when I've been lonely and a sublime means of communication when I wanted to touch people. It's been both my doorway of perception and the house that I live in.
I only hope that it embraces you with the same lusty life force that it graciously offered me.

Commencement Address for the Berklee College of Music, at Hynes Convention Center, Boston, Massachusetts (8 May 1999)

Commencement 1999 | Berklee College of Music[college.berklee.edu]