There will have to be times when I'm not conducting because I'm composing. I haven't solved that problem, and perhaps I never will.

There is something very special about this part of the world [U.S], which is the openness and the curiosity and the lack of prejudice and the lack of generally accepted norms as to what art should be and how an artist's career should go and all that.

Orchestras have become used to the emphasis on the separation of layers, of the ultimate precision and clarity.

There's so much energy exchange [in conduction], so you get back a lot, of course, but you also have to give a lot. It's kind of high-energy thing.

The sort of commercial parameters of classical music changed after the [World War II] , and the whole industry became more backward-looking.

There is such a suspicion in today's world of people who do more than one thing, who aren't specialized.

Our audience, it has been a more difficult process for classical music audiences around the world, and I'm not completely certain why.