To Tod Machover, who supported me at so many times when I needed it, challenged me to do better than I thought I could, and invited me to join some great opportunities to perform with and learn from him. Thank you for a wonderful six years!
To Rosalind W. Picard, who trained her clear intellect on all the difficult problems and came out with exactly the right solution time and time again. Her incredible mentoring, creative ideas, energy, and positive outlook are an inspiration to many.
To John Harbison, whose cogent and probing questions challenged me to confirm the fundamental musical integrity of this project, and whose thoughtful suggestions and responses have been greatly appreciated.
To David Wessel, whose kind support and comprehensive knowledge of computer music, mathematics, and psychology has helped place this project in the correct context. Thank you for your warmth and encouragement!
To the late David Morgan, valued friend and mentor, who seemed to create new possibilities for everyone he met.
To Gregory Harman and Noshirwan Petigara, whose excellent work as UROPs significantly contributed to the strength of this project and whose dedication went far beyond the call of duty.
To all those who contributed to the Conductor’s Jacket project, including Jocelyn Scheirer, Eric Scheirer, Young-Moo Kim, Keith Martin, Will Glesnes, Bernd Schoner, Rosalind Picard, Jennifer Healey, James Blanchflower, Jahangir Nakra, Susan Anderson, Jim Downey, the Polhemus Corporation, Benjamin Zander, Karen Snitkin, the Youth Philharmonic Orchestra of Boston, Keith Lockhart, Jana Gimenez, Denis Alves, the Boston Pops Orchestra, Stephen Ledbetter, Larry Isaacson, the Greenwood High School Orchestra of Wisconsin, Liling Liao, Augusto, Kelly Corcoran, Kai-Yuh Hsiao, Dr. Peter Cokkinias, and the Boston Conservatory of Music.
To Bernd Schoner, Jason Wong, Jennifer Healey, Yuri Ivanov, Andy Wilson, Dave Berger, Janet Cahn, Ben Denckla, Gili Weinberg, Seum-Lin Gan and Yezdi Lashkari, for some wonderful times at MIT!
To Beroz, Kavas, and Mehernosh Mody, whose loving care has sustained me and whose extended family I am honored to be a part of. And to the crazy and wonderful bawas of Boston, who have kept me laughing and well fed for all these years!
To Sreeram Devasthali and the late Richard Freitas, who gave me music.
"We bumble. We imitate scientific method in our attempts to explain magic phenomena by fact, forces, mass, energy. But we simply can’t explain human reaction to these phenomena. Science can ‘explain’ thunderstorms, but can it ‘explain’ the fear with which people react to them? And even if it can, in psychology’s admittedly unsatisfactory terminology, how does science explain the glory we feel in a thunderstorm?...Only artists can explain magic...the only way one can really say anything about music is to write music. Still, we go on trying to shed some light on the mystery. There is a human urge to clarify, rationalize, justify, analyze, limit, describe." [Leonard Bernstein, The Joy of Music, 1959.]