Hello everyone!!

Out of sheer curiosity, how many people on this Forums - who don't label themselves as professional composers - have had their original composition(s) played by a medium/large ensemble? (bigger than, say, 8 instrumental parts)

If so, how did it happen? How did you get involved? Did you conduct the piece yourself, and if so what did it feel like? Did you gain much insight on possible improvements to your orchestration skills?

A share of experience would be wonderful!

Tar

When I was in high school I wrote a piano concerto that I performed with the school orchestra. How did it happen - I went to the orchestra teacher to pick her brain on string writing, and when I showed her what I had done already, she got real excited about it and asked if we could perform it at the school concert. It gave me _lots_ of insights into orchestration and instrumentation. Every rehearsal, I would hear things that I liked or didn't like, and it seemed like every rehearsal caused me to go into rewrites of one kind or another. And the final concert was just an amazing experience - it felt so cool to know that the orchestra was playing my work. It got a good audience reception too, and apart from a few flubs in the brass section, really came off well...

After all is said and done, the piece may not have been my best work, but I wouldn't trade the experience for the world...

I was commissioned to write a piece for a community orchestra. (I don't consider myself a professional composer, because even though I have had a few commissions it's certainly been nowhere near enough to live on!) How it happened? The conductor had heard some other works of mine and liked them.
I didn't conduct the piece myself but I sat in on rehearsals and made suggestions/answered questions.

Things I learnt included:
Don't make the high point of the piece include a cymbal crash if the only cymbal they have is a small tinny one

I'm studying composition, but I don't consider myself a professional composer in any way (that is, I don't make my living off it). Apart from some performances by music students, I've had three performances by professional ensembles (two of them for larger forces). One of them was a piece for orchestra which was an opportunity given to composition students to write a piece for the local symphony orchestra, the other two were for a contemporary music ensemble which plays students' compositions every year. I've posted recordings of them here:

Tableau for orchestra
Chamber Concerto for 16 instruments
Aphorism for solo bass flute and four instruments