The joy of working with the Chicago Symphony was immeasureable.

The experience awakened 'my tremendous musical ambition, which has never subsided to this day.

Fight the tendency to become complacent and do one kind of music - that is the death of a musician.

But one day, when I was still young, I was parted from my family and left my native country. I hunted and searched for music, and destiny turned me into the object of my hunt. The circumstances of life became my 'antlers' and prevented me from returning home.

I can only hope that neither of them was scarred by their upbringing.

The joy of working with the Chicago Symphony was immeasureable.

After about six months, I told my mother that I wanted the lessons to stop, and she was intelligent enough not to force me to continue. Besides, the lessons cost money, which was anything but abundant in our household.