Leila Josefowicz

“For me, new music is a living, breathing thing. It’s not something that’s under glass in a museum.”

“Every performance is a different story. The hall is different, the audience is different, I'm different.”

“The risk is part of the excitement. You have to be willing to fail, to not have it be perfect every time.”

“Music has this incredible power to communicate where words fail.”

“The relationship with a composer is a very special, privileged thing. You're part of the creative process from the very beginning.”

“You have to have a certain amount of fearlessness to tackle these really difficult new pieces.”

“The violin is just an extension of my voice. It's how I express things I can't say.”

“It really helps if you are passionate about what you're doing.”

“I need to be convinced by the music. I can't just play something because it's new. It has to speak to me on a deep level.”

“As an interpreter, your job is to get inside the composer's mind, but also to bring your own soul to it.”