I currently spend a lot of time thinking about orchestration and every detail of a piece.

I currently spend a lot of time thinking about orchestration and every detail of a piece.

It's rather like attending a university seminar where you are talking to a few gifted specialists who deliver a paper to an audience of their peers. That's one way of making music.

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

It makes sense to invest in new work. It's almost like having a research department in a scientific laboratory. You have to try things out. You'll make some bad mistakes. Some things will fail but at least you'll energise the organisation.

Still, American composers working in France have had a pretty hard time.

People like Arvo Part would not have been taken seriously 20 years ago.