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

I was starting a group of musicians and we had a group of young composers in Finland back in the '70s, and the real conductors, the professional conductors at the time were not interested in our stuff.

I actually don't like this term, "classic." It's wrong, but we don't have a better word at the moment.

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.

I feel that this is my artistic home, and I'm very happy to be a California artist together with many others who are not from here originally but who decided to make this the center of their activities. There's something about that that I find very inspiring and satisfying.

I think if you would like to describe composing as an act with one word, "slow" would be the word.

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