My first strong musical memory is of the Villa-Lobos Sixth Quartet which my parents were rehearsing. I remember that it reminded me of big teddy bears dancing around.

I'm not particularly lucid after a concert. I'm not very lucid before, either.

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

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.

How could a New Yorker possibly take something called the Hollywood String Quartet seriously?

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.