I often watched my dad conduct his school band; he was the first person to explain to me what a conductor actually does. When I was nine years old I told him I wanted to be a conductor when I grew up, and I asked him 'what do I have to learn?' He said 'everything!' He took out a score of Ravel's orchestration of Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition. He opened it up and - although I knew the piece by ear - he explained how all the parts were written one on top of the other and that a conductor has to learn to read all the parts simultaneously and hear the harmonies. I was obviously discouraged so he simply advised me to practise my violin and be patient. Over time, I did in fact learn how to read scores and, between the ages of about 12 and 17, I had the most wonderful time learning how to play nearly all the wind and brass instruments of the orchestra, especially the clarinet and the bass tuba. I wanted to learn all the works in the orchestral repertoire as soon as I could and teaching myself to conduct Stravinsky's The Rite of Spring was one of the most memorable experiences of my early teenage years.

During my early 20s, I studied with a variety of 'conducting teachers', most notably Otto Werner Mueller. But it wasn't until I became a father myself that I felt like somehow I was qualified to be a conductor. My first son David was born in 1988. I was 28 years old and everything was about to change.