Charles Shere on the development of his Violin Concerto:
In 1987, I think it was, the Cabrillo Music Festival approached me asking about any not-quite-finished orchestral pieces I might have, and I mentioned the Violin Concerto. Fine, they said, they'd like to see it. I handed it in, as it then stood, not quite filled out, and the original first movement still missing. After a few weeks I heard that they were intrigued by its "spareness," and that they wanted to give it a concert reading on a program devoted to new pieces perhaps not yet quite finished...I ran into Lou [Harrison], too, who seemed intrigued by the piece, and I confessed I'd stolen the snare drum from his Koncerto. "Better you'd have lifted the violin part," he replied.
I recently purchased and read Shere's The Idea of Permanence, a collection of his blog postings. He writes well and has interesting things to say about his musical and travel life. Lulu allows a preview.
