In about 20 years, we will rarely hear Brahms in the concert hall; we will mostly hear contemporary music.

and …

I don’t see myself as a revolutionary person in any way,” says a slightly bemused Salonen. “I think it’s a perfectly normal approach to the idea of what classical music should be doing. What is astonishing is that it’s not being done more elsewhere.

and …

I have performed music that I really believe in,” he explains, “and I am operating under the assumption that I am not vastly different from other people. So if there is music that excites me, or moves me, or thrills me, I have a good reason to believe that it would have the same effect on others. That has been the programming principle. It’s not ideologically based; more pleasure-based.

-Esa-Pekka Salonen

I read them here.