What sorts of conversations did you have with Giancarlo as he passed the baton to you? And how are you preparing the musicians for your tenure?

There was a period of actually two years when Giancarlo had stepped down.

He and I are dear friends.

I had wonderful times when I was visiting Nashville as a guest.

He had me over to his home for a marvelous dinner.

That's the most important part about being a musician, getting really good dinners.

When he learned that I was taking this position, he wrote me right away.

Tell us about this piece by David del Tredici and what's unique about it.

What sort of picture of America does Gershwin paint for you?

Gershwin, in many respects, can be considered the most important transitional composer in this country's history.

He comes from this background of Broadway and what we call Tin Pan Alley, and gradually gets himself involved in the concert world.

The first real composer to do that on a big scale with his Rhapsody in Blue.

[Rhapsody in Blue] He didn't write a lot for orchestra, but what he did was to fuse the styles of various cultures and really open the door for anything possible to happen.

So when we pair him, for example, with Copland, Copland also in his early music, what is he referencing? Jazz and ragtime.

[piano music] So you begin to see these cross currents of music that really identify the American sound style.

What does it mean to you?