I am writing something which I find satisfying and which I am prepared to put my name to as a composer.

Writing tonal music now, you are not writing into the 19th Century.

I know that John Adams has had a very hard time directing French ensembles.

What was once underground is now coming to the surface.

Somehow in the 20th Century an idea has developed that music is an activity or skill which is not comprehensible to the man in the street. This is an arrogant assertion and not necessarily a true one.

The academic area of new music or modern music festivals is not something which attracts me at all.

Similarly you can make a transition from one set of instruments to another imperceptibly.