Leonard Bernstein Quotes

I kind of alternate between conducting and playing and kind of juggling those things, but I don't use a baton.

Conducting is about communication. You don't play any notes, but you communicate with the musicians.

Conducting, I tried it once off the cuff, and quickly realized there were subtle aspects that I was missing. There is a lot more to it that I was able to grasp simply by watching conductors.

Through conducting, you express through your arms, through your face and even the body, what you want to tell, so the musicians of the orchestra understand.

Basically speaking, conducting is quite a healthy profession.

In symphonic music, when you are conducting, you do the same thing. You are feeling the whole orchestra, thinking ahead so you can prepare for a change.

When I started, I'd never had a conducting lesson in my life; I could just do it.

I do basically what a conductor does with a baton, except I also play along with the orchestra. So I have to juggle the roles of playing the concertmaster; sometimes I drop the violin and wave my arms.

There's nothing more frustrating than seeing a conductor say, 'Play softer,' as they're waving their hands in huge gestures.

Conducting is a strange thing to teach.

I think it's a very important collaboration between the conductor and the orchestra - especially when the conductor is one more member of the orchestra in the way that you are leading, but also respecting, feeling and building the same way for all the players to understand the music.

Good conductors know when to push and when to lay back. I've known so many great conductors that I'm still doing what I can to learn the craft of this role.

And if you are strong enough, then you can grow as a conductor more and more.

My whole life, I've been watching conductors. I was 7 the first time I played with a conductor. Seeing the ones that do it well, it's an amazing thing.

Music is its own language - if you don't speak it, it's hard to say what you're trying to do.

Conducting has more to do with singing and breathing than with piano-playing.

I wanted to play my violin and have my musical expression through the instrument. But then I was really young when I had my first opportunity to conduct.

The role of the musician is to go from concept to full execution. Put another way, it's to go from understanding the content of something to really learning how to communicate it and make sure it's well-received and lives in somebody else.

It's different for people who have not seen a symphony conductor conduct from a chair. I feel very connected to the orchestra in a way that a conductor sometimes does not feel. I think it's more visceral.

I started directing chamber orchestras, then adding bigger pieces, adding winds, adding small symphonies. I've always loved chamber music, and I've done a lot.

A man who wants to lead the orchestra must turn his back on the crowd.

In chamber music, the audience can hear each instrument and understand (and feel) what the composer and the musicians have in mind as they play.

It's been very exciting for me to start directing and conducting, exploring the symphonic repertoire, which I've always loved.

I was different from most young conductors today.

Composers are not all good conductors.