Another Pittsburgh uniqueness, if I may. We don’t listen, or we don’t confine our listening to one area. Everybody in Pittsburgh listens to all good music, listen to the European body of work; listen to the American body of work. We study all forms, we don’t have that separation, like you find in other areas of the world. We study everything, everything good. I was going to see Duke Ellington in my early, early years, Dizzy Gillespie, and I was listening to Maurice Ravel, I was studying New England Conservatory of Music books. My teacher gave me — I was also studying Fats Waller and Art Tatum. So, I was playing Debussy. ((Parallel Life))

 

So, in Pittsburgh, we study everything that’s good, and we listened to everything that’s good. ((Veracious Listeners)) We don’t separate the American body of work from the European body of work. We listened to it all. That’s what makes a good musician. That’s what makes a good journalist. That’s what makes a good physician. You cannot close your eyes and ears, because it’s about discovery. That’s what it’s about. We don’t create anything, but we can reflect creativity. How you do that? You discover. We can’t create a fly, or a gnat, or a raindrop. People say — no, we reflect — that’s my opinion. So, that’s what we do in Pittsburgh. We discover all good things if we can.

Return to Index