Gretchen Parlato is an American jazz singer. She has performed and recorded with musicians like Lionel Loueke, Wayne Shorter and Kenny Barron, and she won the Thelonious Monk International Jazz Vocals Competition.

Ms. Parlato opened the lecture by explaining that success is not about money. Success is about happiness.

She also stressed how important it was to grow up in an artistic environment (her parents and relatives are artists too). She said certain artists had such a positive, powerful effect on her that they shaped her music and her story.

Then she talked about one of every musician's struggles: finding your own sound. The most beautiful quote of the lecture was, "Finding your own sound is finding a sound that is already in your soul." She called that process "soul searching." As we look for our own sound, we have to pay attention to our own story. Who am I? Why am I different from you?

Lessons learned:

• everyone has a story.
• our story and our roots matter in finding our own sound.
• practice opposites, like sound and silence: when are you more comfortable? why?
• playing a piece is not just playing random notes. It is about understanding the lyrics of the tune and the story behind it, and making that story your own through your own experience.