Q.  How would you describe Vingt Regards sur l'Enfant-Jesus?

A.  I would describe it as a 20th century Pictures at an Exhibition. It is also indebted to a work such as Liszt's "Harmonies poetiques et religieuses" and his own previous organ suites of a theological bent. Messiaen's imagination was excited about elements and implications of Christ's Nativity story and he created a work for the piano that evokes strong and violent images as well as a sense of wonder and mystery. The work has a theatrical feeling, like a living tableau, because many of the pieces are framed by an introduction and a coda that suggest a curtain rising and falling. The music progresses with cyclic references in such a way that you feel like you've lived through an experience. Messiaen completed this work in 1944 as World War II was still being waged. It is an affirmative piece and might have been intended as a vision of hope for humanity.

Q.  Color is important in Messiaen's music. How does he use color in this work?

A.  Because of his synaesthetic processing of sound as color, Messiaen, in essence, is always writing in response to this impression. He continues to expand and enrich an already established harmonic vocabulary in terms of colors and scalar modes in Vingt Regards. The pool of notes that he uses and the harmonies that can be built from them are associated with certain colors. For example, he frequently uses mode 2 which can be polarized around a number of tonalities. In other pieces, an A Major-like emphasis might be used when evoking the feeling of lakes, rivers, and sky as well as an emotionally jubilant feeling. Messiaen transcribes, as it were, the colors he experiences. He is describing an atmosphere of color that he has formalized into a musical language but the assembly of chords may affect us in a different way.

Q.  When did you discover Messiaen's music and what fascinated you about it?

A.  When I was 13 I attended an organ camp and heard a recording of Diptyque, an early organ piece written in 1932. In it Messiaen states an idea that is common in his music; he portrays a sense of struggle or earthly tumult and opposes that idea with a sense of eternal bliss. This is what fascinated me. When one listens to Vingt Regards from beginning to end, one hears fortissimos, violent accents and opposition of registers but experiences all the more reward when hearing the quiet moments because of what has gone before. Messiaen's music certainly doesn't leave you indifferent. He found ways to construct his music that made it formally acceptable to him and individualized enough not to be mistaken for someone else's. He had a scientific mind and an attitude of integrity. He was very private about his work and did not seek input or suggestions from others, except in the form of inspiration from birdsong.

Q.  While in Paris you studied with pianist Yvonne Loriod, Messiaen's wife. Tell us about your studies with her.

A.  I heard her perform the two piano suite "Visions de l'Amen", with Messiaen in Cleveland in 1978. It was then that I made a commitment to myself to study Vingt Regards with her. I studied with Loriod privately for three years. She is an extremely bright and articulate musician and has the full armor of the well-prepared Paris Conservatory student, winning prizes in all domains but choosing to be a pianist rather than emphasizing her other skills. (She had been a composer but put her compositions away when she married Messiaen.) She is legendary for her memory and somewhat unsympathetic to those of us who have to work harder at it. She was the first teacher I had who was an on-going professional performer. Her insights about Messiaen and her practical connection to a varied repertoire, as well as her standards of playing and preparation, were invaluable.

Q.  You have studied the works of Messiaen in depth. What effect has it had on you as a pianist and as a person.

A.  Because of his music I crossed the Atlantic and studied in France for 5 years. I am a different individual because of living abroad and I can't imagine my life otherwise. There were many other routes open, but that's the one I chose. It demonstrates the power of one person's music to transform another person's life. In terms of playing the piano, it took me to places I might not have gone otherwise. I was dealing with a composer whose ideals and philosophies were secure. His music presents a certain view by its very "itness". This wasn't my only view but it has allowed me to play repertoire of a distinctive nature that many people do not play and that had a significant value to me personally and professionally.

Q.  What suggestions do you have about practice?

A.  Ideally, it's good to have a goal for each practice session and to recognize that there will be periods of impasse and plateaus. They can exist within a practice session, for a week or several weeks. Maybe after your 101st repetition you'll have developed the physical aperatus to overcome a technical problem and play it the way it needs to be played. It's important to realize that's how long it will take. When you're memorizing a piece, analysis is very important; knowing what's repeated, what's not repeated, what's deleted or what's slightly modified.

Q.  Time is of the essence to adult piano students. Do you have any suggestions on how to manage practice time?

A.  Practicing at the same time every day is ideal but not realistic in today's world. You might decide on a certain amount of time per day or per week and use up your time segments the way that suits you best; kind of like Weight Watchers. You can practice 2 hours one day and only 1/2 hour the next day. But keep committed to the total number of hours that you've set for yourself that week. It helps to set a timer in a place away from the piano so you'll stay focused on the music and don't forget to turn off your cell phone so you won't be distracted.

Q.  Problem passages absorb much practice time. What is the best way to deal with them?