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.

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

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

We need music to restore the human spirit

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

The convergence of the Rhone and Saone. Paul Bocuse. The birthplace of cinema. Chateauneuf-du-Pape just a few miles down the road. It does not get much better than Lyon.

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.

We are a global society, and one does not have to be from Germany to give a great performance of Beethoven.

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

Over the years it has been my privilege to lead performances with Saint Louis, the National Symphony, Cleveland Orchestra and so many other wonderful organizations.

I'm beginning to see that just knowing the piece is not enough. Having a clear technique is not enough. Having a broad repertory is not enough. I want desperately to get past all those things.

When civility is illusory, war is inevitable.

I don't take drugs nor drink since 2000 and I must say that I don't think about it anymore, although like every person that was addicted and has money - I know that this can lead to temptation.

The noblest works of human art and pride show that their makers were not satisfied.

Oh no! Don't drag us away from Antartica and take us to the playground of the rich and famous! Not that briar patch! -Max

If you're a writer, you want to get your soul out there, where people can look at it.

I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a desert state, sweltering with the heat of injustice and oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.

There isn't a single business where anybody feels secure.

It shouldn't be a Republican or Democratic issue whether we take care of the environment. That should be a human issue.

One of the consistent themes you'll find throughout the Bible is that God will always provide the necessary information about Jesus Christ to someone who sincerely desires to receive that revelation.

I'm not trying to be in your face and take a picture that is like a journalistic kind of image. I got interested in a kind of complicated, compiled, visual field.