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Quote by Esa-Pekka Salonen

“I think we still do have a PR problem in the sense that these institutions portray themselves quite often as a museum without the contemporary wing. For a young cutting-edge person, why would you get into that sort of business, which is very clearly geared towards dead or almost dead people?”

Quote by Esa-Pekka Salonen

Author

Esa-Pekka Salonen

Esa-Pekka Salonen is a prominent Finnish conductor recognized for his international contributions to classical music. Born on June 30, 1958, he has been a leading figure in orchestral conducting, serving as principal conductor of the Los Angeles Philharmonic and the London Symphony Orchestra, among others. Salonen's innovative approach to music has earned him numerous accolades, including the Polar Music Prize and the Praemium Imperiale. more

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“Every orchestra I know, every opera house I know, is desperately looking around trying to find new talent, new composing talent, supporting young composers, supporting new ideas, supporting new ways of getting the message across.”

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“I think we are in the process of getting the word out, and we haven't done very well yet. But we are trying.”

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“The biggest difference between U.S and most European big cities is that in a place like London, for instance, there are five orchestras, and there's a bloody competition between these five orchestras.”

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“I like this idea of identification with the local team. I think it's great. That's what an orchestra should be. It's an orchestra for its hometown, and it serves the people.”

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“There is something very special about this part of the world [U.S], which is the openness and the curiosity and the lack of prejudice and the lack of generally accepted norms as to what art should be and how an artist's career should go and all that.”

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“Lots of really interesting people move to U.S and decide to work here, because of this whole attitude and openness. I'm absolutely convinced that this is just the beginning. In a couple decades we will see an even more dramatic change.”

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“I'm composing more than before. I'm cutting down on conducting.”

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“I'm trying to conduct only five months a year, and the rest will be composing time. I'm trying to spend as much as I can out of those months here in L.A., because for creative work, this is a fantastic place.”

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“I feel that this is my artistic home, and I'm very happy to be a California artist together with many others who are not from here originally but who decided to make this the center of their activities. There's something about that that I find very inspiring and satisfying.”

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“If somebody had told me when I was starting composition in Helsinki in the '70s that I would end up in L.A. and to describe that journey, those 17 years with the philharmonic and building the hall and this and that, I would have said, "This is a fairy tale of the first order."”

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