From my earliest days in high school and even middle school ensembles, the idea of leading a group of musicians always attracted me. When asked by Walter Hendl why I wanted to be a conductor, I replied “Because I want to play the orchestral repertoire.”  That still seems to me one of the best reasons. My approach to conducting is collaborative. I work with orchestras the same way I work with individual singers or instrumentalists or with chamber ensembles. There are matters of scale and administration, of course, but I consider all musical performances from art song recitals to symphonic concerts to opera to be combined efforts from everyone involved.