I write music people enjoy playing and listening to, and I have a group that loves playing the music.

As for the symphonic activities... when I was a student at the Eastman School of Music, I became exposed to a lot more musical forms, elements, opportunities, and I fell in love with strings and their uses.

I find it very difficult to compose when I'm not playing.

1972 was a year of many pleasant and rewarding experiences for me

I am glad that I wrote something that brought joy to millions of people.

Not with the Rochester Philharmonic, but I formed my own orchestra, made up of musicians from the Eastman School, where I'm on the faculty now, direct the Jazz Ensemble and teach improvisation classes.

I tend to not want to put labels or categories on the music, only because people come with preconceived ideas about what they're going to hear, or won't come for this reason.