Keith Lockhart Quotations

She's just an amazing, compelling performer. She has a wonderful vocal presence and really knows what to do with a song. She'll be fun. I guarantee it.

One of the lasting ironies in classical music, ... we use this piece written by a Russian to celebrate victory over the French in the 19th century.

What matters is what you do when you're here. My commitment to this place is real.

When he shows up at rehearsal, I'll actually believe he's here.

The Rachmaninoff is just one of the most glorious, over-the-top, beautiful, Romantic statements ever.

but I was doing too much pops, and that was not what I really wanted.

Science has come an awful long way in the last 250 years.

A Puccini opera ... something that takes peoples' breath away. I'm proud of everything we do, but some music is intended to take you out on a limb, and some music is a little more balanced. People generally don't have incredibly tragic responses to Dr. Seuss, so you're not going to get the full gamut of emotional range.

You don't step in and say, 'I want to change A, B and C. It's become an American institution. After 115 years of it, one treads lightly.

The goal of the Pops ... is still to keep the music somehow reflective of the popular culture of the day, but also reach out. Really, you know, the Pops is the best cultural outreach tool we have for classical music. Fiedler would still recognize much of our repertoire.