(3/5) “NYU changed my life. I was surrounded by all these different types of people. I was a performance major, but I’d sneak into other classes: economics, business, literature. I wanted to know the same stuff that everyone else knew. My whole world opened up. After graduation I took a job running an after-school program at the Children’s Aid Society. I was just supposed to keep the kids busy until 6 pm: play chess, help them with their homework, stuff like that. But a lot of these kids came from unstable homes. And I knew how much music had changed my life, so I got permission to form a choir. I hung up flyers everywhere. I promised every kid who joined would get a free T-shirt and sneakers. Forty kids showed up to the first rehearsal. It was chaos. Most of them just wanted the sneakers. Kids were tripping each other. There were a couple of fistfights. And when it came time for the second rehearsal—only nine kids came back. They were a bunch of ragamuffins. Different ages. Different heights. When I lined them up they looked like the New York skyline. We were terrible at first, terrible. But we finally had a choir. And I could tell there was talent there. When I stand in front of a choir, something happens. I hear things. I know exactly what I want. And I won’t stop until we get it right. At our first rehearsal the pianist was really clanking on the keys. I said: ‘Please, play a bit more gently. Because the kids will imitate you.’ He smirked at me. He said: ‘These kids are too young to be musical.’ I fired him on the spot. I knew what children could do. I’d been studying the records and tapes of other children’s choirs: The Vienna Boys Choir, The American Boy Choir. I knew what the best sounded like. But those choirs had rounds and rounds of auditions. They were only taking the most talented kids. And I was taking everyone. A lot of my kids were homeless, or from the foster care system. But we had one big advantage. We were diverse. A group of violins will all sound the same. But throw in a tuba, throw in a trumpet-- you’re going to get a new sound. I knew that if we could be excellent, we would create an entirely new sound.”