It's not only that I want to get things right when I'm composing but that my imagination often gets lost, and then I have to wait until I come back t….

The London music world isn't a particularly cohesive place. And when I'm composing, I'm not very friendly. I need isolation..

I always say that I can help someone who can already compose, but if they can't, I can't help them. I can advise on technical issues, of course, like….

The feelings of being in the audience and being on the podium are very far apart. When you're onstage and something goes wrong, you can do something ….

When you love a teacher very much - as I did Olivier Messiaen - you do have to leave them.One of the things that separated me from Messiaen was my de….

When I lose direction, it becomes very hard to write. I actually get a physical pain, as if my subconscious knows better. That may sound mystical and….

It it's true that fastidiousness and attention to detail is very much in my genes - if you knew my parents, you'd see that this is something I've inh….

I began conducting when I was in school, around age 12, because I was writing little theater pieces and wanted to perform them. And then somehow I go….

Concerts are dangerous because anything can happen - which is one of the joys as well..

I get nervous before I conduct a concert, but then you just go out there and do it..