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

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

Randy Newman and I grew up together in Los Angeles. We are both products of the film studio era. Randy is one of the great songwriters of our time and one of the fun people to be with.

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

I don't really think about retiring. I will retire just before people start saying, 'I knew Leonard Slatkin when he conducted well.

The life of any musician really doesn't fall into a normal schedule at all. Every week there are different rehearsals, different days and nights of performances, so we don't have a particular pattern that we can follow. For a conductor, it is a little bit worse because we have to allow for traveling.

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