My interactions with musicians have been simply that: interactions with musicians. Issues of gender, or anything else beyond the music-making, have in my experience played no role in whether or not a musician has been able to articulate my intentions as a composer.

The best critics leave the reader curious to pursue something further, but still to let the reader have his or her own honest, unique opinion.

I don't think performance out of duty yields very much. Coercion is never the way to go.

Mazur was a remarkable artist. During our time in Rome we became friends. I would often perform my works for him at the piano.

Of course, all people have their own reasons for believing what they do about gender. In my case, in over two decades of collaborating with men and women in music - conductors or otherwise - I have seen no distinction.

George Rochberg once said that 'to be a composer, you need to have fire in the belly, fire in the brain, but most importantly, an iron stomach.' I feel this is for the most part true, and hope I might convey something of it to younger composers.

The American new music scene is remarkably vibrant.