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I started composing when I was around 13, and back then, people used to say that I needed to be a composer or a performer, but I can't be good at both of them. I could never understand why anyone would say that. Jellyroll did both, Bessie Smith did both, and so did I.

— Wadada Leo Smith

Sentiment: NEGATIVE

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✓Similar Perspectives

Originally, I wanted to be a composer. I always tell people, 'I think of myself as a composer.'

— Ornette Coleman

I look at composers and conductors, anybody involved in music or writing or art in general; they got more done as they got older. If I can, I'll be one of those people because what I do is my passion.

— Sarah Brightman

I run around so much that I finally reasoned that composing is the one musical endeavour which you can do anywhere, anytime.

— Andre Previn

I began my career with infantile dreams of becoming a composer.

— Ivor Novello

My mom's a concert pianist, so she started teaching me when I was around seven. When I was eight, I started writing my own songs, and kinda started putting piano and singing together. But I'm trained classically, which is a big influence on me, I think.

— Birdy

I became a performer because it was what I enjoyed doing.

— Richard Pryor

Once I started performing I knew that's what I wanted to do with my life. But you have to work really hard to be a performer.

— Melanie Fiona

I'd say that, first and foremost, I'm a performer; I started performing when I was four years old, and being on stage from a young age set me up.

— Paloma Faith

✗Opposing Perspectives

I was in the army, and I had given up the thought of being a composer.

— Mitch Leigh

I always knew I wanted to be a performer. I started playing when I was in third grade, but I wasn't very good at all.

— Brantley Gilbert