David Patrick Stearns profiles acclaimed Finnish composer and conductor Esa-Pekka Salonen. As a composer, Salonen is quoted saying "Musical expression is bodily expression, there is no abstract cerebral expression in my opinion. It all comes out of the body." As a conductor he has simply stated that the primary reason he took up conducting was to ensure that someone would conduct his own compositions. He is currently principal conductor and artistic advisor of the Philharmonia Orchestra in London, and conductor laureate of the Los Angeles Philharmonic.
