“Violin is my life. To say it is as necessary to me as breathing, eating or drinking is a cliché, but is very true, especially in the sense that it is an elemental life force; it gives vital sustenance to the soul. What has always attracted me to the violin is that it is a special place where I can park my emotions without getting a ticket! I think that vulnerability to beauty and the ability to be touched is necessary for art. Playing the great masterpieces is a re-creative and sensual art. In order to really appreciate their high ecstasies and the low despairs, I think that one has to be vulnerable to it.”
          Patricia Shih

“I feel very comfortable on stage and I love to perform. I think the personality of the artist is extremely important. It is part of the package. I think Heifetz started it all but it also seems to me that great personality is key to all performance. You must be a great personality or you won’t be a great artist. You can’t have one without the other.”
          Patricia Shih

“While I listen to music a lot and love Beethoven, Brahms and Mozart, my favourite piece is always the one I’m playing at the moment. I think you have to really love a piece to give it your best, to play it the way the composer wants you to. The whole thing should be completely natural, and extension of the instrument.”
          Patricia Shih

“I can’t tell you how great it feels to play here [at Carnegie Hall], to know that so many great musicians were once on the same stage.”
          Patricia Shih

“My mentor Josef Gingold studied with Ysaye and he’s more of the old style and I think a lot of his influence has rubbed off on me, because I have been with him so long. I think I prefer the older generation better than the new one because they have so much personality. When Heifetz or Mischa Elman plays, you can easily tell who it is. Before, it took less than five notes to tell who was playing, but now it is not so easy.”
          Patricia Shih

“I don’t think about the competition [with her contemporaries Midori, Chee-Yun, or Sarah Chang]. It seems like I was born playing the violin all the time, ever since I can remember. I play just because I enjoy it.”
          Patricia Shih