My first strong musical memory is of the Villa-Lobos Sixth Quartet which my parents were rehearsing. I remember that it reminded me of big teddy bears dancing around.

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.

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.

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.

And the only way to do great work is to love what you do.... Don't settle

The wonderful wizard of Oz - when was a child I loved the movie and I read the book when I got older and made me amazing

Isn’t it wonderful to give birth to your own kind?

Knowing something is always never enough understanding it, is "Key

Rough diamonds may sometimes be mistaken for worthless pebbles.

Therefore the great mediator of any community is human morality.

We have the right of revolution. Revolution does not always have to be weapons and warfare; it's also about revolutionary ideas.

When I was 18, I'd be out four nights a week - I want to have that energy again but I've found I'm a bit old and ready for retirement.

I was convinced that, besides millions of frank unbelievers, there are today large numbers of half-believers to whom religion is a source of intellectual and moral discomfort.

God will never allow a challenge that will surmount us; we are always greater than our challenges.