I knew I could never match my father as a violinist, and there were already four generations of outstanding cellists in the family.

The role of an orchestra in the 21st century isn't just playing, it's about developing future audiences and performers.

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

There's not an orchestra in the world that doesn't have weaknesses. None of us can play everything well. The repertoire is just too big.

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.

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.

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.