Brahms is one of my all-time favorite composers.

It is good medicine to go to a concert hall and forget the harshness of what's going on. It can be a very positive thing.

As for minimalism, I don't care, don't care, don't care to repeat myself, repeat myself.

Architects have to become more aware of exactly what is involved in designing barrier-free buildings and homes.

The arts are part of the fiber of American society and should get Federal support.

Access Living is a powerful voice for people in the Chicago area who live with disabilities.

My experience with the Detroit Symphony has been musically very satisfying. They have a wonderful sound, which for me is one of the most important qualities in an orchestra.

I am humbled and honored to receive the Genesis Prize, recognizing not just my professional achievements and my desire to improve the world, but also my commitment to my Jewish identity, Jewish values, and Jewish culture.

The danger in playing a piece over and over again lies in getting stuck in a rut where you don't ask questions anymore and you always play it the same way.

Teaching is really very, very important. I always tell my students that you should find an opportunity to teach. When you teach others, you teach yourself.

Israel is the country of my birth. When I come here, I feel I'm coming home.

My message is that giving is very important. Giving is a Jewish thing, and I like to talk about that. There's nothing more important, personally, for anybody than being able to give.

'Kol Nidrei' is probably the most important prayer in the Jewish religion. It comes on the evening of Yom Kippur. There are so many different renditions of it.

When I was growing up in Israel, Cantorial music was something I heard over and over on the radio, so it wasn't at all strange to me. I was very familiar with the music.

I am an eternal optimist. I always say 'Yihyeh Tov' or 'It'll get better.'

I met my wife in music camp. She's got great ears, and we have a relationship where she's not afraid to tell me anything. If something's going on in my playing, she will tell me about it, and that's very, very important.

An amazing gift in a young child is, in some ways, an abnormality.

The thing about talent is that it comes at different ages, sometimes at a very early age. That's when I find it to be the most challenging.

A lot of society tries to put people with disabilities into one cube, and when you think about it, many, many people have different types of disabilities, and you cannot put a code that applies to towards everyone - generally, they can be guidelines, but in the long run, interior designers and architects need more education on the subject.

Believe me, I've had interviews where the person says, 'So when did you start and why? What about your parents?' I say to them, 'Please, have you heard of the word 'Google?'

If you can read, then you can recite Shakespeare. But that's not acting.

I've been lucky to conduct the very best orchestras in the world: New York, San Francisco, Chicago, Berlin, the London Philharmonic.

Television will always err on the side of making something not quite as classy as it could be.

Only one of my grandchildren is serious about a musical instrument. The others dabble in it.