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Interview with Steven R. Gerber
September 10, 2006
Steven R. Gerber is a composer. For information about his work, visit www.stevengerber.com.
Tibbetts: How long have you composed, and what made you decide to become a composer?
Gerber: I began composing when I was 13 or 14 but not seriously until the end of my freshman year at Haverford College. Getting praise for what I had done in high school (an atonal fugue which I played at a Haverford student composers' concert) was the turning point.
Tibbetts: What inspires you?
Gerber: Nothing outside of music, except of course poetry, when I am writing vocal music. Otherwise, I am inspired either by other music or by some musical idea that comes to me out of nowhere, which then becomes the basis for a composition.
Tibbetts: Of all you have done, what do you consider your best work, and why?
Gerber: No composer can really be objective to that extent about his or her own work, but I am especially proud of my Violin Concerto, Symphony #1, several of my works for solo instruments, maybe a couple chamber works (Notturno and Spirituals) and a few of my songs.
Tibbetts: What is your 'typical day' like?
Gerber: After breakfast I go to my studio and spend the day there, writing music, making telephone calls, doing email, proofreading and copying scores, etc. I stop late in the afternoon. (This is my schedule 5 days a week; I almost never work on weekends or at night.)
Tibbetts: Do you have any words of wisdom to offer to aspiring composers and musicians?
Gerber: Perseverance and a refusal to compromise your standards for anything. Accept commissions only if you will have adequate time to do what you consider your best work. Know the literature as thoroughly as possible. Perform or conduct if you are good enough.
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