"I have been interested in the notion of communication in music ever since I had private lessons with Hans Keller as a teenager. The experience of creating a new music line for Sony Classical has also had a huge impact on me. Not only has it provided direct musical influences which I still draw on when I compose but it helped me to articulate what I hope to achieve in my work. Some composers try to protect their music from the attentions of the general public and others welcome the opportunity to address an intelligent, non-specialist audience. I certainly belong to the latter category. I only write music that is important to me, but I’d like to think that it matters to other people as well. When I compose I am not trying to articulate “pure” conceptual ideas but to find a particular performance energy for each piece I write, whether this is achieved through concert music or through the medium of theatre. This tendency towards directness of expression (e.g., Signal Failure or Fantasy Unbuttoned) has been met on the continent with accusations of lacking “pudeur”, of lacking a sense of shame. Well, I see what they mean, but I’m proud to be shameless." [M.H.]