"Dreams do come true, even for someone who couldn't speak English and never had a music lesson or much of an education."

"Music was my joy, my home, the one place I felt happy and secure."

"One time I introduced my orchestra as the Shampoo Music Makers instead of the Champagne Music Makers."

"The William Penn Hotel in Pittsburgh... was the place where Champagne Music was born."

"I love my mother Ali so much. I'm a momma's boy. I just have a very cool mom. It's not as though I had any say in the matter. I'm just really fortunate. She's the most kind, loving, giving woman."

"I grew up in a house where my father encouraged my brother and me to fail. I specifically remember coming home and saying, 'Dad, Dad, I tried out for this or that and I was horrible,' and he would high-five me and say, 'Way to go.'"

"When the baby dies, On every side Rose stranger's voices, hard and harsh and loud. The baby was not wrapped in any shroud. The mother made no sound. Her head was bowed That men's eyes might not see Her misery."

"I put my friends and family first. I'm really just a normal thirteen-year-old girl who has a different hobby than most girls my age. Acting is kind of an extracurricular activity."