Books and music have kept me company for ever: from my childhood in Brazil to my student years in the US, then on to my sojourns in London and Paris, which is my current home. Music won out when I made my first career decision: I studied the cello, became a performer and music teacher, and went on to develop an innovative music pedagogy that I've presented to musicians all over the world. When the time came for me to write a book about my music teaching, the writer in me woke up with a tremendous appetite, and I found myself working on essays, poems, and novels with unbridled passion. Call me lucky, but I've managed to make it so that my music-making , teaching, traveling, and writing all feed one another. The result is a hectic, creative existence in which I'm permanently high on the stuff of life.