Anyone who composes and conducts at the same time is immediately suspect, because he must be faking one or the other.

The players never think they project enough. In a hall that seats 3,300 people, it's a very scary thing to play so quietly that you can barely hear yourself.

Lots of really interesting people move to U.S and decide to work here, because of this whole attitude and openness. I'm absolutely convinced that this is just the beginning. In a couple decades we will see an even more dramatic change.

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.

The classical music industry, has been an industry of covers. So we do covers, and if I compare this with the rock and pop side, what is the most exciting event?

When an artist works today or whenever, it's not about creating immortal masterpieces, because that's the one thing we don't decide ourselves.

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.