Andris Nelsons

Birmingham did a truly remarkable thing in building Symphony Hall, which is the finest concert hall in the U.K. and one of the best in the world. The city has supported music without putting on the brakes.

For me, the main goal is loving music and experiencing the great music-making with the orchestra, which is the great reason why I conduct, and that is the main goal.

Conducting is about communication. You don't play any notes, but you communicate with the musicians.

On stage, I'm always nervous, but there is so much adrenalin, too. It's strange because I have to turn my back on the audience, and my audience is the orchestra. I communicate my energy to them, and they communicate it to the audience behind me!

If we want to share the message of the composers, to give good things back to humanity, we have to dig deep while we can.

Music is a universal thing with no boundaries, whether you play inside or outside.

The excitement you can get in classical concert is as big, in a different sense, as you can get when you go to the ice hockey or baseball game.

I think that, as a person, Beethoven talks to everyone in different ways.

It's so important which musicians we choose for being in the orchestra.

As for my relationship to Beethoven, I admire people who can say what they really think. It's as though he's saying, 'That's how I feel about the world, and I don't care what people may say.' His music is pure and honest. Beethoven never pretends to be anybody else.

I believe we have a physical body and a soul. It doesn't matter what religion you are, whether or not you believe in God. I think people believe that there is a soul and a body.

Anyone who loves football can also be involved in music; the two aren't mutually exclusive.