David Cope

“The works have delighted, angered, provoked, and terrified those who have heard them. I do not believe that the composers and audiences of the future will have the same reactions. Ultimately, the computer is just a tool with which we extend our minds.”

““I remember thinking, ‘I’m not a white person and I’m not an Indian. What am I? Even at that young age, it somehow freed me from following cultural stereotypes. I was me, and it felt very good.”

“I felt strongly that the work was worth something,” “I don’t worry about what people think of me.””

“I see no reason why computer-created music cannot move us to tears, find roots in our cultures...as much as any music composed in more traditional ways. As heretical to some as these thoughts may be, I believe them profoundly.”

“Every limitation we place on the potential of machines is a limitation we indirectly place on ourselves.”

“It made me appreciate what humans were capable of.”

“Creativity does not originate from a vacuum.”