Incredible talents have gone undiscovered by masses of people in America, by children who have no chance to hear music. Sierra's life is a busy one, rushing between his duties as a Cornell professor, traveling and composing. You get ideas on planes, when you're captive, but they aren't always remembered. Beethoven carried his sketch book everywhere, but I'm still a bit too shy about that. Ideas are plentiful, but you need quiet and time to work them out, to develop them and solve their problems.
Composing is a strange and mysterious process.
His bold, colorful, rhythmic style couldn't be more different than music by his teacher, the renowned Hungarian composer Gyorgy Ligeti. He urged me to follow my own path, to be the best I could be, to stimulate originality, that elusive thing that is unique. If you experience any problems with the Daily News Web site, please let us know. Include the date and time of the problem and a brief description.