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I did a concert... in September with the Berlin Philharmonic... They're great musicians, and there's always something to learn from them.

Next year I'm going to be a guesting soloist with orchestras all over Europe, to start off with.

Because I don't take money, I'll go anywhere and do a benefit concert with almost any orchestra.

I not only play at the prestigious classical concert halls like Carnegie Hall and Kennedy Center, but also hospitals, churches, prisons, and restricted facilities for leprosy patients, just to mention a few.

You know, a lot of people are loath to go to an orchestral concert because they are intimidated by the thought.

I am the conductor for life of the Staatskapelle in Berlin, which fills me with tremendous joy because I feel absolutely at one with them. When we play, I have a feeling that together we manage to create one collective lung for the whole orchestra so that everybody in the stage breathes the music in the same way.

I got really, really sick with a spinal infection that put me in a hospital for a couple of months, and it was touch and go. I had my guitar with me, and as soon as I got well enough to play, there was nothing else to do in that hospital. The nurses would come in and request songs.

There are two golden rules for an orchestra: start together and finish together. The public doesn't give a damn what goes on in between.

It is wonderful to see how happy all my friends in the LA Philharmonic are in their new home.

Sometimes there is a 36-piece orchestra going off in my stomach.