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.

Los Angeles is just a more open place. The way L.A. functions is that people give you a forum. They say, Show us what you can do.

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.

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

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

I feel very free and very happy to be a composer.

As we watch TV or films, there are no organic transitions, only edits. The idea of A becoming B, rather than A jumping to B, has become foreign.