The conductor is the artistic leader and sometimes cultural arbiter of his or her community. It is their leadership that is looked to and should anything go wrong, they are the persons taking most of the heat.

I use my hands like a sculptor, to mold and shape the sound I want, to clarify.

I'll know I'm reaching the total American market when I'm asked to do a video for MTV.

People know Detroit for the cars, but the suburban areas of the city are really beautiful. It's much more inhabitable than people think. Many believe it's like Berlin at the end of World War II.

I have been long associated with British music. I have favoured it as my alternate music next to American.

There is no 'perfect' in music. If I ever came off the stage and felt it could not be better, it would then be time to quit.

In some ways I believe music is the more convincing communicator of ideas than words. For instance, we can hear of Kordaly and Bartok and recognise them as Hungarian, but very few of us speak Hungarian, but the music itself speaks to more people.