The American new music scene is remarkably vibrant.

Part of what makes music so interesting is the lack of consensus on just about any given topic.

While I believe there is certainly a phenomenon of timelessness in art, the people writing today can comment on today in an exclusive manner.

If people want insights, if they want to swim in the currents of their own time and share the experiences of their time, then it makes sense to engage with the artists of one's own time.

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

My own goals center around writing the best music that I can, and only I can determine whether or not I've succeeded in accomplishing that.

Just as all pop music is not simplistic, not all contemporary concert music is complex. Often what a person connects with goes much deeper than generalized issues of simplicity and complexity.

Many critics have become de facto teachers. That is a lot of responsibility, and I think it should be wielded with care. Most people appreciate sincere guidance.

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.

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

A healthy dialogue is always good.

The writer has no responsibility other than to jack off in bed alone and write a good page.

The challenge of the unknown future is so much more exciting than the stories of the accomplished past.

Because we build the worlds we wouldn't mind living in. They contain scary things, problems, but also a sense of rightness that makes them alive and makes us want to live there.

American Negro must remake his past in order to make his future.

I love humility in a woman. It's so rare. With man, of course, it is practically extinct.

A cap of good acid costs $5, and for that you can hear the Universal Symphony, with God singing solo and the Holy Ghost on drums.

Worship is love on its knees before the beloved; just as mission is love on its feet to serve the beloved

Failing is another stepping-stone to greatness.

Those who are born of parents broken with old age, or of such as are not yet ripe or are too young, or of drunkards, soft or effeminate men, want a great and liberal ingenuity or wit.

We know that it is possible to harness desire to many interests, that evil is one form of a desire, and not the nature of it.