When I went back to visit my native Berlin after World War II, I noticed that the only thing I really remembered from my childhood Berlin days is the shoe store.

From 1971-1988 he was Music Director of the Brooklyn Philharmonic (formerly Brooklyn Philharmonia). From 1981 to 1986 he was conductor of the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra. He studied at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia with Isabelle Vengerova (piano) Rosario Scalero (composition) and Fritz Reiner (conducting).