Birth date: Dec. 9, 1964.
Birthplace: Buffalo.
Occupation: Conductor, concert pianist and chamber musician.
Current home: Minneapolis.
Marital status: Married for a year to Jennifer Gerth.
Children: A 4-month-old son named Raef.
Working on: I’m resident conductor of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, and I’m conducting a program in April that includes the film score to Charlie Chaplin’s “City Lights.” It will be projected on a giant screen onstage.
I stay home to watch: I’m an “X-Files” junkie and I watch the original “Star Trek,” and I admit I’m still into cartoons.
The book I’ve been reading: “The Hobbit” for the 130th time.
Favorite meal: I can’t say. I have three categories of food: good, plenty and often. I’m very egalitarian. The only two things I don’t eat are olives and artichokes.
Favorite performer: I’ve probably seen Bill Bruford, the great drummer, more than anybody.
Personal heroes: Johann Sebastian Bach, Thomas Jefferson, and Lao-Tzu, the author of the “Tao Te Ching.”
I’d give anything to meet: Bach. There is no Western music without Bach. I don’t care what idiom you mention, rock, jazz, classical, he’s the great codifier.
I’m better than anyone else when it comes to: Pinball. When I was going to Northwestern, I played a lot of pinball, and there are a couple of machines that I am the master of.
The one thing I can’t stand: Bigotry.
If I could change one thing about myself: The Tao teaches I am who I am, and I had best be satisfied with that.
Most irrational act: The statute of limitations hasn’t run out yet.
My most humbling experience: Every once in a while, I’ll put on a recording of the teenage Vladimir Ashkenazy playing the “Mephisto Waltz” by Franz Liszt to remind myself that I really can’t play the piano very well.
The three words that best describe me: Rock and roll.
