I have friends who have a CD mastering plant in Hollywood and they are very sceptical about European record labels' understanding of digital technology.

I have friends who have a CD mastering plant in Hollywood and they are very sceptical about European record labels' understanding of digital technology.

There's another way of making music, by touching the lives and feelings of ordinary people.

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

I work very fast, keeping the ideas flowing but making sure they come out the way I intended.

The virtuoso element in jazz playing, all those very fast runs in the upper extremes, simply doesn't appeal to me. That's why I don't want to make my concerto "virtuosic" in the sense of a technical show-off. I want a beautiful sound and a melodic and lyrical line. I am more interested in the way someone can play musically.

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