The most immediately gratifying thing about my work is…

A woman's life in the orchestra is not as long as a man's; she is just not as good at 60 as a man…

— Zubin Mehta

I equate composing with orchestrating. I think my music in terms of an orchestra.

— Henry Mancini

Composer” is a word which here means “a person who sits in a room, muttering and humming and figuring out what notes the orchestra…

— Anonymous

I had been composing just for myself, and people would say I played so orchestrally, and wondered if I thought about having someone write…

— Terry Bozzio

Every orchestra I know, every opera house I know, is desperately looking around trying to find new talent, new composing talent, supporting young composers,…

— Esa-Pekka Salonen

I used to be selected for the Pennsylvania all-state orchestra. It was a thrill to go from my home town of Aliquippa clear across…

— Henry Mancini

I'd always loved poetry and I'd always loved writing music and composing music, but I hadn't thought of putting the two together until around…

— Bruce Cockburn

Every day I lugged my backpack through the halls, waiting for the final bell. Then I'd race home and hole up in my room,…

— Josh Groban

I don't meditate before I play or compose, but I see playing and composing as meditative acts.

— Steve Swallow

I was really into the music of Cream after I finished composing the music for 'BTTB.'

— Ryuichi Sakamoto

Even though, theoretically, being a composer and being a songwriter are the same thing, in my brain, they are completely different. When I am…

— Michael Bacon

I'm the only actor who has done everything, right from anchoring shows to composing and singing songs to theatre to movies.

— Javed Jaffrey

Composing a piece of music is very feminine. It is sensitive, emotional, contemplative. By comparison, doing housework is positively masculine.

— Barbara Kolb

As human beings, we are the only organisms that create for the sheer stupid pleasure of doing so. Whether it's laying out a garden,…

— Gary Hamel

Playing is much, much harder than composing in my opinion, becoming a player. If you want to be a player for all your life…

— John Powell