José Serebrier began his life long love affair with music as a child in Uruguay. He began composing as a teenager, and was just 17 when his first Symphony was premiered by the legendary Leopold Stokowski in New York. Soon after, Serebrier became Stokowski’s assistant, and later learned from mentors and teachers including conductors George Szell and Antal Dorati, and composer Aaron Copland. José Serebrier has conducted many of the world’s great orchestras, and recently released a recording of Stokowski’s Orchestral Transcriptions with the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra (Naxos 8.572050). Suzanne spoke with him about his music, his new CD, and why he is optimistic about the future of classical music.