The artist must give direction to his career, get people interested and constantly check to see that things have really been done. What musicians are having to do now is a harbinger of what everybody is going to have to do in the twenty-first century. If musicians are alerted while they're in school to the need for them to be inventive, flexible and versatile, they will not be much worse off than lawyers or doctors. Security is in the skills you can bring to the table and in your ability to react to opportunity. Also, I felt I could bring the deeper understanding I had acquired of the European cultures, which produced much of the guitar repertoire, to the American students.
American students are wonderful to work with because they are utterly fearless.
They don't know much about European cultures, but neither are they in awe of those traditions. And finally, I'm always trying to put good people from different countries, including the U.S., in touch with each other to create a world-wide melting pot of musicians. Most importantly, the school was willing to tolerate my crazy schedule.