I have had the pleasure of interviewing the great Italian maestro on a number of occasions (always with a translator, of course; he speaks no English). The first time was back in March 1994 for Cineaste magazine. Perhaps the most memorable was in January 2001, when I did an on-stage Q&A with the maestro after a screening of Malena for the Society of Composers & Lyricists.
There was a 2007 interview for Classical KUSC, which I later used in my December 2008 Morricone radio special. His last visit to America, when he accepted a long-overdue honorary Oscar, was the occasion for several pieces: A historical-perspective piece for Variety; a Variety review of his concerts at Radio City Music Hall and the United Nations; a fun list of Oscar-music missteps keyed to the Morricone loss for The Mission; and a much more detailed review of the New York City concerts in February 2007.