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

A music director cannot and should not be chosen on the basis of a first date. It is not so difficult to make a good impression with a single appearance, usually containing some of a conductor's party pieces, works they have performed successfully many times before.

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.

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.

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

An orchestra knows during the first two minutes of the first rehearsal whether or not they are going to enjoy the person on the podium.

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