Artist Spotlights

Kent Nagano, who stepped down as musical director of the Berkeley Symphony, returns, as conductor laureate, to lead the Berkeley Akademie on May 20. Here, he talks about his programming philosophy, working with Messaien and Frank Zappa, and entertaining at home — and home for Nagano always means California.

Violist Kazuhide Isomura, founding member of the Tokyo String Quartet, talks about his obsession with string quartet literature, becoming more spontaneous over the years, and rehearsing in different languages.

There's no one quite like Laurie Anderson. Here, the performance artist talks about her upcoming performance of Delusion, the mystery of how our minds work, her love of books and desire to write, and how "talking about music is like dancing about architecture."

Stephen Hough wears a lot of hats — here, the "pianist's pianist" and blogger talks about his upcoming performance and tribute to Alfred Cortot and Paris, how he starts the day, nearly becoming a priest, and everything from hats to pudding.

New Yorker writer Alex Ross talks about the Golden Age of music and composing to "embrace the millions," whether or not there should be rules surrounding concert hall decorum, writing for music, and his respect for jazz.

Cellist David Requiro lives in New York City, where he plays with the critically acclaimed Jupiter Symphony Chamber Players. The Oakland native has performed with numerous local orchestras, as well as the Tokyo Philharmonic, National Symphony Orchestra, and Symphony Pro Musica in Boston. He has debuted at Carnegie Hall and the Kennedy Center. This week, he joins his long-time collaborator, pianist Miles Graber, for a concert as part of the Noe Valley Chamber Music Series.