With American orchestras, in particular, because they play in such huge halls, getting a true pianissimo is very hard.

This conducting thing happened. In 1983 I was sucked into this international career, which was a very scary experience.

I think we are in the process of getting the word out, and we haven't done very well yet. But we are trying.

My music wouldn't sound the way it does if I hadn't had the experience of conducting.

I'm trying to conduct only five months a year, and the rest will be composing time. I'm trying to spend as much as I can out of those months here in L.A., because for creative work, this is a fantastic place.

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

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