I always felt that one day I would have to make the change in my own life, bite the bullet and see what it is to be a composer who conducts rather than the other way around.

Music has just as much to do with movement and body as it does soul and intellect.

I love a visceral sound, the kind that hits you in the belly.

If I were in a position to announce a public competition to coin a new word, I would do so right now.

I think truth as an idea should be left to the philosophers and perhaps religious leaders and politicians, and professional people who deal with that idea.

Every day we make more progress toward understanding the concert hall.

I can't imagine how many first performances I've done, perhaps 500. Some of them have been very good, and some of course very bad.