I first encountered orchestra music when I was 5 years old. One day a stereo was delivered to my house, and several vinyl records came with it. One of them was Violin Concerto in E Minor by Mendelssohn. It was performed by the Philadelphia Orchestra and conducted by Eugene Ormandy. The moment I listened to it, I felt as if the air surrounding me turned sepia color, and I got into the music as something in me resonated with it. For several decades since then, music has always been in my life. There was a time I listened to folk rock music such as Simon & Garfunkel, Elton John, Niel Young, Carol King, and James Taylor. I also leaned towards jazz at one time, however, my heart was always tuned to orchestra music.

I grew up and chose a career in music. I started composing music for TV and radio, and recording in studios. What I noticed right away was that music sounded different from what I remembered as a 5 year-old boy. I wondered why it sounded different even though we had the best musicians and the best instruments. A recording session with the L.A. Philharmonic in Hollywood gave me an answer to my question. I heard the concert master practice before the show and was delighted to notice the same sound as the record I listened to as a child. I lived in L.A for a while, and experienced different climates from what I was used to. I learned that it was humidity that could make a big difference in orchestra sound. Orchestras formed in Europe and North America wouldn't sound the same when they perform in the Asia and Pacific regions south of Japan, where it is warm and humid. I don't mean to say it is bad. They would simply sound different. Sound changes depending on the amount of moisture in the air. Humidity especially affects string instruments, making their sound rather murky compared to the bright clear string sound I once heard as a child. My approach to make up the for this difference became the inspiration for the New Philharmonic Sound.