If I felt that one of my operas did not come off I would certainly say so.

What is American music? The most satisfying answer I've come across is that it was a kind of natural comfort with the vernacular which is diverse and regional; it's not one particular set of sounds.

If I felt that one of my operas did not come off I would certainly say so.

I've never set out consciously to write American music. I don't know what that would be unless the obvious Appalachian folk references.

The performances of my works in the last 10 years are probably equal to all the previous years put together. There are so many venues now and there is a completely new public for opera that's grown up outside of the traditional core opera public.

You can't possibly predict what will last or not. But once you attempt to write for the ages, you're doomed.

Most of the important composers in our country are clustered in the Northeast.