There was this kind of mildly annoying mythology about conductor Like biker should riding a Harley-Davidson on an LP cover, and wearing a sort of a leather suit.

Once you get over the first hill, there is always a new, higher one lurking, of course.

There will have to be times when I'm not conducting because I'm composing. I haven't solved that problem, and perhaps I never will.

Orchestras have become used to the emphasis on the separation of layers, of the ultimate precision and clarity.

As we watch TV or films, there are no organic transitions, only edits. The idea of A becoming B, rather than A jumping to B, has become foreign.

The act of conducting in itself, of waving my arms in the air and being in charge, I didn't miss. I missed the sensual pleasure of being in contact with music.

My music wouldn't sound the way it does if I hadn't had the experience of conducting.

Pulse as an active means of expression, Stravinsky and Beethoven are the two masters of that.

This conducting thing happened. In 1983 I was sucked into this international career, which was a very scary experience.

I discovered that the people of the North are different and there's no way you can make a person from the North similar to a Southerner. They're two different worlds.

I feel very free and very happy to be a composer.

A coward turns away but a brave man's choice is danger.

It is an easy thing for one whose foot is on the outside of calamity to give advice and to rebuke the sufferer.

The climate of today is not really focused as much as it was then on being able to speak about different cultural issues or different situations that were going on politically.

I always save a few special outfits for the final rounds of a tournament, because they put me in a more positive mindset and I then make better decisions.

Nothing is more common than for persons to hate those whom they have injured.

I want to say, without hesitation, the purpose of our life is happiness.

You've learned that every good lie is threaded with truth and every accepted truth leaks lies.

Art is a universal language and through it each nation makes its own unique contribution to the culture of mankind.

Anything that’s too safe is not action.

It would not be foolish to contemplate the possibility of a far greater progress still.