Socially I never was an outsider. I have never thought of the conflict element before frankly, but perhaps it was wanting to belong, and at the same time wanting to retain one's own personality.

America tends to worship the modest talent because it doesn't put us in an uncomfortable position vis-a-vis the artist.

I found a certain kind of music congenial to me; it never occurred to me to write music that was academically acceptable.

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.

The artist is something of an outsider in America. I have always felt that America does not value its artists, certainly not in the sense that the Europeans do.

It's necessary to track characters all the way through an opera. If you're dealing with more than one or two characters, it's very easy to forget that the others have lives of their own that feed into the story.

I was trying to do something that seemed very natural and easy but which bridged that gulf between the singing voice and the speaking voice.